


Lewis McCartney and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Week

by AlmightyCamelot, MemePosse17



Category: H2O: Just Add Water
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Gen, Lewis is Valid, Lewis is a mermaid, Not Canon Compliant, because that's what he deserves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-01
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2020-10-04 14:13:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 32,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20472365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlmightyCamelot/pseuds/AlmightyCamelot, https://archiveofourown.org/users/MemePosse17/pseuds/MemePosse17
Summary: Lewis is having a difficult week. There's drama among his friends, his brothers are being annoying, and in a flawed moment of scientific research he managed to fall into the Moon Pool on a full moon, and now he's got to deal with being a merman on top of everything else in his life. Now if he can just keep his friends from finding out until the time is right.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> My friends and I thought that the show would have been even better if Lewis became a mermaid too. So we did that. This story takes place around the middle of the first season, right at the start of Rikki and Zane's relationship. The original series doesn't give us much information on Lewis's family, so my friends and I decided to change this. His parents died when he was really young. His older brother Leo took care of Lewis and his other brothers Lenny, and the younger twins Liam and Lewis. That's about all the information you need for this story.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Lewis has an absolutely awful day, he decides to go fishing to relax...big mistake.

Lewis felt just like Alexander in ‘Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day’, except his name was Lewis and he already lived in Australia. His older brother used to read him that book almost every night, but he had never related to it as much as he did on this day. So far today he had been forced to deal with an unnecessary amount of crap. His morning was filled with his younger twin brothers wreaking havoc on the house. They had managed to wake him up, on one of the few days he had the ability to sleep in. Apparently, they needed help with biology homework, but he couldn’t really remember what he had done to help them, he was still in a sleep fueled haze when he had done it. He tried to take a shower to shake off the sleep, but of course his brothers had used up all the hot water, forcing him to suffer freezing cold water on his skin. It woke him up, but he wasn’t happy about it.

By the time he was dressed and ready for the day, the house was empty. His older brother had left for work and the twins were rushing off to play with friends. He attempted to use the quiet to work on a project due for school but couldn’t manage to focus. His brain seemed to be actively steering him towards anything other than his schoolwork. He gave up after two hours of trying, thoroughly fed up. It didn’t help at all when he tried to instead turn to his mermaid research just to discover that his oldest brother Leo had thrown out all of his samples. No matter how many times Lewis explained that the toenail clippings and hair were for important scientific research, Leo didn’t seem to respect it. He would have to call the girls to get more. In his first stroke of luck for the day, Cleo told him that she and Rikki could meet at the Juice Net Cafe so he could get them.

He managed to waste time until it was time to meet up with the girls, making himself lunch and making a minimal effort to clean his room. Still, his heart wasn’t in any of the work. He just wanted to see his friends. They tended to help if he was in a sour mood. He smiled as he looked at his watch and realized that it was time to meet up with them in just half an hour. He gathered up a bag with sample jars and his microscope, excited to get to work.

Leaving his house, he managed to be in a somewhat positive mood. This didn’t last very long though, as he reached the pier and was met by the snide faces of Zane and Nate. They approached him like vultures, looking for easy prey. Lewis sighed and stopped walking as they stood in front of him.

“What do you want Zane? I’m kind of on my way to meet some friends. Something you wouldn’t know anything about.”

“On the way to meet Cleo, Rikki and Emma? Because they do seem to be the only friends you have. Come on Lewis, we all know that.” Zane had a smirk glued to his face as he spoke, and Nate let out an ear-piercing laugh as he did.

“I’m only going to ask one more time...what do you want Zane? Because if you can’t think of anything, I’m going to leave.”

“Go on then Lewis, leave.”

Lewis tried to push past them but, in the process, Zane managed to grab onto his backpack. It slid off of Lewis’s shoulder and into the water next to the pier.

“Zane! You dick! Do you have any idea how much it cost me to buy the equipment in there!”

“Sorry, mate. Better luck next time.”

Lewis fought back rage as the two boys walked away, laughing with each other. He struggled to reach the backpack as it slowly sank into the water. He managed to catch one of the straps and pull it back up onto the pier. Luckily, the only thing the water would have hurt was his microscope. What wasn’t lucky was the fact that the microscope was completely ruined, and he would have to work his ass off to afford a new one. On top of the destroyed technology, he was now running late to meet Cleo and Rikki. He quickly put on his backpack, cringing as he remembered that it was wet, the water seeping into his shirt. He did his best to ignore it as he ran to get to the cafe so the girls wouldn’t have to wait on him.

Of course, that didn’t wind up mattering. The girls were late when he got to the cafe. He ordered drinks for them all and sat in a booth to wait, stewing over his broken equipment. Which of course left him open to an attack from Miriam. She decided it was necessary to ask him why he looked so aggravated. Before he had a chance to answer, she put in her own input. Apparently in her eyes, anybody with a ‘life as sad as that’ would be upset. If he had been in a better mindset he would have had a better response, but all he could muster was, “I’m not in the mood to deal with you Miriam.”

She shrugged it off and left, only for the seats at his table to finally be filled with some decent company. He perked up a bit as Rikki and Emma slid across the table from him and perked up further still when Cleo sat down next to him. They were deep in conversation, barely stopping to acknowledge him as they took their drinks. He took the initiative to join the party.

“Hey ladies, good for you to finally join me. Sorry I didn’t get you anything Emma, I thought it was just going to be Cleo and Rikki.”

“That’s okay Lewis, I just met up with them a few minutes ago. Turns out we completely missed the fact that tonight is a Full Moon. So, I called them so we could formulate a plan.” Emma replied, a serious look on her face. Lewis quickly looked at the calendar on the wall of the cafe. She was right, tonight was a Full Moon.

“Okay well, I still have some of that window covering from our last Full Moon incident. I could bring it over and we could all camp out again.” Lewis offered up. He tried to fight back his excitement. Despite how unusual and sometimes frightening the full moon could be, he enjoyed the challenge it presented. He also liked that it was an excuse to spend more time with the girls. They always included him, but he tended to feel a little left out when it came to some aspects of their mermaid-ness.

“Sorry, Lewis,” He already didn’t like where Emma’s sentence was going. “But my parents really don’t want everybody staying at my house again. Not for a little while anyway.”

“And my dad will freak if I try to have a boy spend the night.” Cleo chimed in. Lewis could feel his spark of joy quickly fading.

“I’m guessing your house is a no-go too isn't it?” He asked Rikki. Sure, he wasn’t fond of the idea of staying over at Rikki’s, but at least he wouldn’t be forced to spend the night by himself.

“Yep. My dad hates having a bunch of people in the house at once.” Rikki confirmed what Lewis had already assumed and crushed what little hope he had left.

After all the crap he had been forced to deal with, before dinner no less, he needed something to distract him. Helping keep the full moon from causing another catastrophe would have been just what he needed. He huffed and took a long sip from his juice, trying to think of something, anything, to salvage his evening.

“Well, I could at least help you guys set up at Cleo’s. Like I said, I have some leftover supplies from last time the moon decided to terrorize you. I could bring it over and make sure everything’s secure before leaving you for the night.”

“That’s really sweet Lewis,” Cleo said, clearly trying to be delicate with him. “But I think we have it handled this time. We’ll call you if there’s any emergencies.” Was it wrong for him to wish for an emergency? He sighed and nodded, doing his best to shrug off the disappointment.

Its okay Lewis, things aren’t all that bad. Who needs these girls anyways, you have plenty of other friends...Well… no, you don’t. Still, there’s lots of things you can do to keep occupied and salvage your night. You can go fishing, no girls to bother you. Yes. That’s perfect. A nice night of solo fishing.

Lewis smiled to himself, satisfied with his revised plans for the evening. He could still enjoy himself, no problem. He felt the tension slowly start to melt away and he returned to the conversation the girls were having.

“-So, Cleo, did you talk to the new guy in your math class today?” Emma asked.

“Yeah, you have to get his attention before somebody else snatches him up!” Rikki added. Lewis really didn’t like where this was going.

“You guys! It isn’t like that, I mean sure, he is a little cute...but that doesn’t mean anything. I’m really just not looking for a relationship right now.” Cleo answered softly. Her cheeks were tinted red as she spoke, clearly flustered.

The tension returned to Lewis in a tidal wave of aggravation. Whoever this boy in Cleo’s class was, he had managed to single handedly bring Lewis back down into a pit of despair. He knew that his changes were slim with Cleo after the siren incident but that didn’t make the idea of her being with somebody else, or not wanting any relationship at all, any less painful. He tuned everything out once again. There had to be some way to salvage this night. Being miserable and alone all night didn’t seem appealing at all. Still, nothing was coming to mind.

“Are you alright Lewis? You’re being kind of quiet.” Cleo asked, breaking him out of his mental prison. He did his best to respond naturally.

“I need to leave.” Perfect, that wouldn’t arouse any sort of suspicion.

“Oh, is everything okay?”

Quick Lewis, you need a cover. Just act like everything is fine.

“Oh yeah, I just remembered that I promised to help my brother with something. I’ve got to go; he gets annoyed when I’m late.” He let out a silent breath of relief, seeing the concern on Cleo’s face slowly fade away.

“Alright. Did you still want those samples before you leave?” She spoke as Lewis started to stand, ready to make a hasty escape.

“No that’s fine. I’ll get them tomorrow. Remember, call me if anything crazy happens.”

“We will Lewis!”

He barely heard her as he raced out of the Cafe, starting in the direction of his house. At the very least he could still go fishing. It may not fix his sour mood but at least he could wallow in peace. It wasn’t a perfect solution, but it would work for the night. He could find a more constructive way to deal with his emotions tomorrow. When he got to his house to retrieve his fishing gear, his older brother Leo was waiting.

“Hey, I didn’t expect you back until later. What happened to your little harem?” He was sitting at the counter fixing dinner for the younger twins, not looking up as he spoke. Lewis stole one of the finished sandwiches, rolling his eyes at the question.

“They’re my friends, not a harem. And they’re having a girls only slumber party tonight, so I’m on my own. I’m thinking about a little night fishing.”

“So, Cleo is purely just a friend?” He laughed, “Sure Lewis.”

“I’m choosing not to acknowledge that.” Lewis grabbed the last of his equipment and put on one of his fishing hats. “I’ll be back late. Don’t wait up.”

“Call me if you need anything. And don’t wake up the twins when you come back in!”

“Got it! See you later!” Lewis called behind him as he stepped out the front door. He heard the soft ‘love you too’ as the door shut behind him.

About an hour later he was on the water, waiting for something to bite. The fish must have heard about the universe's plans to ruin his day though, because he hadn’t gotten so much as a nibble. Normally this wouldn’t bother him. He knew as well as any good fisherman that patience was one of the most important parts of fishing. Tonight, however, he had very little patience left to give. Every little frustrating thing that had happened was running through his mind as the sun started to set, and the sight of the slack fishing line was only working against any attempt to shift his mind to positive thoughts. He finally decided to give up when he got a nibble only to reel in a large clump of seaweed.

“That’s it!” He exclaimed to the empty ocean. “Clearly, this day isn’t going to get any better. I’m going home.”

Lewis put his pole into the boat and then got ready to head back to shore. As he turned the boat around, he caught sight of Mako island. The full moon shining overhead. He sighed, the negative thoughts plaguing his mind reminded him of the fact that he had still not made any progress on his research. He still had no idea what in the Moon Pool had triggered the mermaid transformation of his friends. It felt like the moon was mocking him, mocking his inability to figure out its secrets. Barely realizing what he was doing he turned the boat and started in the direction of the island.

It was only when he reached the shore of Mako that he came back to his senses. What was his plan exactly? To climb to the top of the mountain and try to fight the moon? He sighed, slumping down in his boat and running his hands through his hair.

Get it together Lewis. Nothing is out to get you, especially not the moon. Just turn around and go home, a good night’s sleep might be just what you need.

He took one last glance at the island, preparing to go back home, only to pause again. He looked up at the moon, and then to the dormant volcano. The moon was almost directly overhead of it. His eyes widened and he scrambled out of his boat. Quickly grabbing his backpack, he raced towards the Moon Pool.

Maybe he hadn’t made any progress when it came to the science of the mermaids, but it was possible that he could find out something new if he witnessed what happened when the full moon fell directly above the Moon Pool. If he could get some samples while the moon was overhead, there was a chance he could get some different results. His frustrations fell to the backburner of his mind and the scientific side took over.

The cave didn’t look much different when he entered but he supposed that might change when the moon was lined up with the opening at the top of the cave. He got to work quickly, pulling sample jars out of his backpack. He got fresh samples of the rocks, sand, and the water in the pool. All the while he kept his eyes on the sky, waiting for the moon to appear. If he could get samples of everything both with and without the full moonlight on it, he might finally be able to get some results.

The cave started to light up as the moon shifted over it, Lewis got his second samples of the rocks and sand with the light shining on them. He finally turned to the water, the moon now directly above the pool. His eyes widened as he watched the water start to bubble, glowing underneath the light of the full moon. He sat in awe before quickly snapping out of the trance and leaning over the water. He stretched out his arm, a vial held tightly in his hand. He dipped it into the bright water of the pool, allowing the vial to fill. He smiled to himself as he capped the small container, for the first time that day feeling a sense of triumph.

Until he lost his footing.

Before Lewis could even process what was happening he was underneath the water, the bubbles surrounding him. He struggled to the surface, coughing. Just as he was able to take in a breath, the moon started to slip away. The bright light reflecting on everything faded, and the water returned to a calm stillness. Lewis climbed out of the pool, still clutching the vial of water. He couldn’t process what had just happened, or rather, he didn’t want to think about the logical conclusion. The girls had been in the water while the moon was shining on it, and he knew what had happened to them. So, it was clear what that meant for him now.


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Lewis falls into the Moon Pool during a full moon, he spends the rest of the day avoiding water in case it actually affected him.

Lewis didn’t sleep at all that night. He got home, changed out of his wet clothes, and proceeded to lay awake in bed until the sun was returning to the sky. His mind was racing. The mental image of the Moon Pool haunting him. He had considered calling Cleo, but she was with the other girls dealing with the full moon. He couldn’t risk adding stress onto them and leaving them vulnerable to the moon's spell. He was all alone with his thoughts for the night. Mental images of sparkling water and golden mermaid tails polluting his mind. He attempted to reason with his racing mind, to calm down enough to get some sleep.

You can deal with this in the morning, Lewis, when you have the girls help. Maybe you won’t even be affected. The moon had almost passed over the pool when you fell in. Maybe it wasn’t enough to do anything. Or maybe, it only works on girls! Panicking won’t help anyways. Just relax!

After hours of trying to convince himself that everything would be okay, he got out of bed. The sun wasn’t even up yet but there was no use trying to sleep when it clearly wouldn’t happen. He walked over to his desk, opening up one of the drawers. He pulled out an outdated science textbook he had gotten from the thrift shop and opened it to reveal a hole carved out of the center. Inside was a small notebook where he kept his mermaid research. He had all of the numbers recorded on his computer, but he kept all the context in the hidden notebook. You could never be too careful when it came to mermaids.

He flipped to the beginning and then pulled out his computer. If he couldn’t get sleep, he could at least see if he had any information from the tests he had done that would help him. Cross checking the numbers on the computer with what he had written in his notebook helped to waste a little time, but it didn’t give him much to go off of. No amount of data on what liquids caused a tail, average time it took for a tail to appear and disappear, or mermaid powers was going to help him figure out if he was actually affected by the full moon. No, there was only one way to figure that out.

With a pained sigh Lewis reached for the water bottle on his desk. He carefully unscrewed the lid and set it aside. He had to do this carefully, scientifically, so he also reached for a pipette from a drawer in the desk. He filled it up with water and then held out his hand, holding the pipette over it. He could see his hand shaking as he mentally prepared to drop the water onto his palm. Taking a deep breath, he started to squeeze the dropper. Watching as a small drop of water started to form at the end. It started to fall, and Lewis watched as it seemed to move towards his hand in slow motion.

“LEWIS. I’M STARTING BREAKFAST, IF YOU WANT TO EAT YOU HAD BETTER GET DOWNSTAIRS BEFORE THE TWINS DO.”

Lewis jerked his hand away and turned towards the sound of his brother's shouts. The drop of water fell harmlessly to the floor and Lewis set the pipette down with a sigh. He hadn’t noticed how much time had passed while he was going through his research and now his brothers were starting to wake up. He would have to try again later when he could be alone. His younger brothers had no concept of privacy and he really didn’t want to risk the chance of one of them coming into his room and witnessing him with a tail.

He put all his research away and got changed, taking a moment to screw the lid back onto the water to avoid any potential accidents, and went downstairs for breakfast. Leo was busy at the stove, working on a large pan of scrambled eggs. Lewis got to work setting the table, putting out plates and silverware for everybody. Just as he was getting the ketchup out of the fridge the twins ran down the stairs, taking their places at the table. Lewis sat down next to them and Leo filled everybody’s plates.

“When did you get back last night?” He asked Lewis as he piled a helping of scrambled eggs onto his plate. “I was up pretty late, and I didn’t hear you come back.”

Lewis shrugged, attempting to appear casual as he poured ketchup onto the eggs, much to Leo’s disgust. “I told you, I was night fishing. Can’t remember what time it was when I finished.”

“Past midnight, that’s for sure.”

“Am I in trouble? Because this feels like an interrogation.” Lewis did his best to sound nonchalant, not wanting his brother asking more questions than he felt like answering about the previous night.

“I mean, it was a school night. Weekends you can stay out as late as you want but curfew is 11:00 on school nights. I’ll give you a pass this time but try and remember that next time you decide to do a little night fishing. And try not to fall asleep in class.”

Lewis let out a sigh of relief and nodded, a smile gracing his features for the first time that day.

“If it happens again though, I won’t go so easy on you.” Leo warned, his tone serious.

“Understood, no more staying out past 11:00 on school nights. You have my word.”

The rest of their meal was mostly uneventful. They exchanged small talk until it was time for Leo to drive the twins to school. Lewis waved them off, gathering his own school bag as Leo ushered the rowdy twins into the car. As they pulled out of the driveway, he made his way out the door. Starting his short trek to school. He had almost managed to forget about his stress over breakfast. His brother's chatter blocking out all of his panicked thoughts. Through the beginning of his walk he actually managed to be in a good mood. That is until he came to a house with sprinklers running in their front yard.

The sight of the water spraying across the grass and onto the sidewalk that Lewis usually crossed to get to school pushed away any pleasant thoughts and returned all the stress to the forefront of his mind. He took about 5 steps back, making sure that there was absolutely no chance of getting hit by the water, and then quickly crossed over to the other side of the street. For a second he worried that somebody would have seen him avoiding the sprinklers and gotten suspicious, but he supposed he could just write it off as not wanting to get his clothes wet. Once that worry was gone however, a whole new array took its place. School was going to be a verified minefield. He suddenly felt a surge of sympathy for Cleo, Emma and Rikki. Avoiding water sucks already and he’s only had to do it for one morning so far. He made a mental note to give them more credit for dealing with it later.

The rest of his walk he managed to zig-zag across any other sprinklers in his way and made it to school completely dry. He went to his locker, getting everything he needed for his first class of the day. As he was turning around to walk across the school to his English class he came face to face with a smiling Cleo Setori. Lewis jumped, letting out a yelp of surprise.

“Hey, Lewis! Sorry if I scared you. I just wanted to ask how you were last night. You left the cafe in a hurry.” She said. Her voice was pleasant, but a note of concern crept in as she mentioned his hasty escape from the previous afternoon.

“Yeah, I was alright. Just a little frazzled. What about you? Was there any trouble for you girls with the moon?” He did his best to sound normal, to mask the anxious energy surrounding him. He contemplated for a split second if he should tell her about what happened at Mako but decided against it. He should tell all the girls at the same time. Preferably after school when they had less on their plates.

“Nope. Everything was normal this time around, thankfully. It’s still a little weird though...locking ourselves up like that every full moon. I just wish we didn’t have to-” Cleo’s voice was cut off by the sound of the warning bell, urging them to get to class. She sighed and then shrugged. “I guess it doesn’t really matter, I’ll just have to get used to it.”

Lewis put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder, a wry smile on his face. The lingering thought in the back of his mind that he may have to worry about the full moon’s strange side effects didn’t help his already nervous state.

“You’ll be alright Cleo. And we’re all here to help you through it. We should get to class though.”

Cleo nodded and gave him a soft smile before starting to turn away. Lewis quickly grabbed her arm, stopping her in place.

“Speaking of helping each other with things, I wanted to talk to you and the girls about something. Can we meet up after school at the cafe?” His voice wavered slightly, the thought of what their reactions might be putting him even further on edge. Still, he would have to tell them eventually.

“Of course, Lewis,” She said with a nod, “I’ll tell Emma and Rikki. Whatever it is, I’m sure we can all help you.” Lewis returned the nod and started towards his class.

English had been fairly uneventful, as had his Algebra class. Lewis had successfully stayed clear of water the entire time and even managed to focus on Macbeth for a solid 7 minutes. Now, however, he had stumbled upon a bit of a problem. Standing in the men’s restroom, staring at the sink, Lewis finally realized that he couldn’t risk washing his hands. Following this thought was the realization that he wasn’t alone in the bathroom. Nate had entered and was now watching as Lewis struggled with his situation. Lewis looked down at his hands, at the sink tap, and then at Nate. He quickly made his decision and turned to leave the bathroom.

“Hey, it’s alright mate. I don’t always wash my hands either.” Nate said casually, patting Lewis’s shoulder.

Lewis paused, shock taking over his mind, before making a hasty exit. Once outside the bathroom he allowed himself a moment of disgust as he realized that Nate had just touched him with, most likely, unwashed hands. If it hadn’t been for the very specific reason Lewis wasn’t washing his hands, he may have felt like a hypocrite. But considering the circumstances, he didn’t care. Nate was officially disgusting. He made a mental note to get hand sanitizer with a low water content so this wouldn’t be a problem anymore.

The next class up was Chemistry, something Lewis typically enjoyed. Today however, he had never been more tempted to skip a class. Usually watching a chemical reaction would be exciting, something he relished in, but there were always risks. Risks that involved beakers bubbling over, being dropped, and lots of water spilling. Things that Lewis really wanted to avoid at all costs today. Skipping class also wasn’t an option anymore. He had walked into class and been spotted by the teacher. He had no idea what he could do to get out of it. Faking an illness was a potential option, but the girls had tried that and it almost ended horribly, so maybe it wasn’t the best idea. Class was then starting, and the teacher was passing out materials. It was all but too late for Lewis.

His senses were on overdrive the entire class. Every single cry of surprise when the beakers started to bubble, every single clink of glass. It made him jump up in his seat. It got to the point where his lab partner decided to ban Lewis from using the equipment, putting him on note taking duty. He couldn’t even concentrate long enough to be bothered by it either, because in no time the lab group that was sharing the same table tipped over one of their beakers. Lewis jumped up out of his seat, avoiding the water that started to run over the entire table. He could hardly hear the sound of his partner shouting at him to get some paper towels to help clean up the mess. He was too entranced by the sight of the water. He only managed to snap out of his daze as his partner started mopping up the mess.

“Thanks for the help Lewis. Really useful!” He shouted.

Lewis stammered out an apology as the last of the water was cleaned up and sat back down in his seat. Thankfully the rest of the class was able to go without incident and Lewis was positive that he did well enough with the notes that his team would get a decent grade on the assignment. Something that did manage to give him a bit of comfort. Still, he was on edge the rest of the day though his classes.

This was something Lewis didn’t enjoy at all. He was used to feeling like he had some sense of control. Whenever he came across a problem, he was usually able to solve it with science. Even if that proved to be a challenge, he typically had better control over his emotions. It wasn’t common for him to become such a bundle of nerves. Now that it was happening, he couldn’t stand it. Science hadn’t been much of a help yet when it came to mermaid problems. He didn’t have much else to fall back on until he could get some advice from the girls. He spent his last class of the day counting the minutes until he could escape to the Juice Net.

He couldn’t get away from the school fast enough when the final bell rang. His mind was racing with every step that drew him closer to the cafe. He tried to think of the best way to explain what had happened to the girls. Cleo would be understanding, of course, it had been an accident. Emma and Rikki might not be quite as kind. He knew he would be hearing all about how he had been reckless and about how dumb he must have looked falling into the pool, but at least after all that he would be able to get a little advice from the experts. He may conduct the research, but they have all the firsthand experience. He would need a little of that if he was in fact a part of the mermaid family now.

His hands were sweating as he stepped into the cafe, quickly spotting Cleo, Emma, and Rikki in their usual booth. He took a deep breath and slid in next to them, ready to tell them exactly what had happened.

“Hey guys, thanks for showing up.” He hoped that he didn’t sound as nervous as he felt, or if he did that they didn’t notice.

“Of course, Lewis!” Cleo said. Her sweet smile managed to calm his nerves just a bit.

“Yeah, what are friends for.” Emma chimed in, Rikki gave a slight nod, not quite as invested as the other two but still making an effort. He gave them an awkward smile and sat down in the booth next to Cleo.

“So…” He cleared his throat a bit, gearing up to start his little confession. “I wanted to talk to you guys about something kind of...big. Last night I-” He was cut off by Rikki standing up on the other side of the table.

“Hold on. I can’t deal with important conversation until we have drinks. Just give me a second and then we can start with all the serious information.” Rikki walked away quickly, not giving them any time to protest. Emma shrugged in her seat.

“Classic Rikki. Always avoiding serious conversations.”

“Come on, Emma,” Cleo said, “She’s doing her best. She showed up, didn’t she?”

“She did, but that’s something else. She’s hardly shown up for anything in the past week or so.” Emma glanced at Rikki as she spoke, as if she was analyzing her. “She’s hiding something Cleo, I know it.”

“This again? Emma, if it was important she would tell us. It probably isn’t that big of a deal!”

Lewis looked between the two girls, unsure of what exactly they were talking about. He suddenly felt incredibly out of the loop and he wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing.

“Why don’t we ask Lewis hmm?” Emma’s words made Lewis’s eyes widen and he realized that in this particular situation it was probably best to be out of the loop. He didn’t want to be forced to take sides in the drama between the three of them. “What do you think Lewis, has Rikki been acting weird lately?”

“Well…” Lewis hesitated, thinking back to the past week. Sure, she hadn’t been around as much as usual, but it hadn’t seemed like a huge deal to him. “Rikki is always weird in my opinion. You’ll have to be a bit more specific.”

“What she means is,” Cleo interjected, “Does it seem like Rikki is hiding anything?”

“I honestly couldn’t say. I don’t know her the same way you two do. Plus, she doesn’t even like me. So, it’s a little different if she isn’t telling me something.” The two girls at the table sighed in defeat, slumping in their seats.

“I guess we’ll just have to keep a closer eye on her for a little while; see if we can figure anything out. I don’t like the idea of us keeping secrets from each other, I mean we’ve all heard what Ms. Chatham has said about-” Emma quickly silenced herself as Rikki returned to the table, drinks in her hands. She placed one in front of each of them before resuming her spot next to Emma.

“What does Ms. Chatham say about what?” Rikki questioned, a smile on her face but suspicion in her eyes.

“Oh, you know, about not talking to Sea Perch and other suspicious fish.” Cleo quickly covered, “I was just telling Emma and Lewis about some new fish we got at the Marine Park, I’m not sure if I trust them.”

“Alright, well if that’s all out of the way...what did you want to tell us Lewis? We’re all ears!”

Lewis was taking a long drink as Rikki spoke, but he suddenly felt as though his throat was very dry. It seemed like there was already a bit of tension within the group. Needless to say, it wasn’t helping his nerves all that much. He looked up at the three girls, each of them with an expectant look on their face. Meanwhile, his mind was racing.

“Oh, Um…”

C _ ome on Lewis, you have to think of something! Clearly they’re already worried about something going on with Rikki. There’s no reason to add more onto their plates. You don’t even know if the moon pool actually did anything to you! You can wait another day or two, until you know for sure whether or not you’re actually a… _

He didn’t even want to think about it. A part of his mind, no matter how illogical it was, believed that if he didn’t acknowledge the possibility everything would stay normal. Still, even if everything was normal right now, he needed to come up with something to tell the girls so they wouldn’t start to get suspicious of him like they were of Rikki.

“Yes, I am... I think I am onto a big discovery, something that may explain the reason you all got your tails.” He plastered a fake smile onto his face as he spoke. “I’m getting really close. I just need a bit of help from you ladies to get me the rest of the way.”

Great. Now they’re going to be disappointed when my ‘Big Discovery’ turns out to be a fluke. Way to go Lewis.

All three girls had smiles and looks of disbelief on their faces. It was a little heartbreaking knowing that they were going to get excited over nothing. Still, it was all he could come up with.

“Of course, Lewis, that’s incredible!” Cleo looked the most excited of them all, which only increased Lewis’s guilt. He never thought he would be disappointed to see her smile but here he was.

“Whatever you need, we’ll help you with it. Anything to figure out why all of this happened to us.” Emma had a familiar determined look in her eyes and Lewis felt the slightest pang of relief knowing that she had bought his lie.

“I’m going to need samples. Lots of them. Hair, toenail clippings, saliva...Anything you’re able to give, I’m going to need to analyze.” He reached into his backpack pulling some small containers, handing them to the girls. “You can give them to me tomorrow and I’ll get to work running the tests. I’ve got to run now though-”

He had started to stand, ready to make yet another hasty escape to avoid suspicion. But he paused as he watched Rikki unleash a huge wad of spit into the sample dish and then passed it back to him.

“Here you go. That should be enough to get you started, right?” She looked at him with a self-satisfied grin and he took the container and put it into his backpack.

“Yep, that should be perfect.” He said, a wry smile on his lips. “Now I’m so sorry to cut this conversation short ladies but I’ve got to go run a few tests.”

“Good luck, Lewis! Let us know if you figure anything out.” Cleo called after him.

“Absolutely!” He gave a small wave and quickly left the cafe.

He technically wasn’t lying. He did intend to run a few tests. Just not on any sort of samples the girls provided. He needed to run a few tests on himself first. He would certainly have something to report back to the girls if he found anything from his little experiments.

Lewis had contemplated going back home but eventually decided against it. An experiment like this would require total privacy. Something a house with three other boys in it did not provide. He decided that his secret fishing spot would make for a better location. It was almost always empty, except in the early hours of the morning, and there was plenty of water there for him to use. When he got there, he sat down on the shore. Looking out over the waves that crashed onto the beach. As usual, he was the only one there. Yet he was still terrified to get too close to the water.

If the Moon Pool really had changed him, then his life would be changed forever. There would be positives, of course, but what about the negatives? He wouldn’t be able to participate in the annual fishing competition anymore, it would be too risky. No more going to the public pool and dunking his younger brothers. There were so many little things that he wouldn’t be able to do ever again. It was a lot to consider. Except, at the same time, there was nothing to consider. There was no choice to be made. If he had been changed in the Moon Pool, there was no going back. So, there was no point in postponing anything. He had to find out sooner rather than later if he was part fish.

With that thought in mind, he finally stood up and kicked off his shoes. He looked around him once more to make sure that nobody was around to see him and then he started to walk towards the water. He watched as the tide fell back, stepping onto the damp sand. Then he felt the tide return again, forcing water between his toes and getting rid of any ambiguity in his current condition. Within seconds he was falling to the ground. Feet no longer on the ground to support him. Instead, the lower half of his body was now composed of a large tail. It glistened under the sun, the color a soft pale green. The color of the sea foam. He stared at it with wide eyes, the water washing over him. He couldn’t manage any coherent thoughts, the sight of the tail keeping him entranced. There was no question anymore. The Moon Pool had definitely worked its bizarre magic on him. He did his best to shift away from the water, moving to lean against a large rock on the shore.

Have to dry off, have to tell the girls!

“Hey Lewis?”

Holy-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everybody who's read so far, you're all angels! Hope you enjoy part 2!


	3. Chaper Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Lewis has confirmed that he's a merman, there are a few more discoveries he has to make.

“-Shit!” His voice was a panicked whisper as Lewis quickly looked to find anything he might be able to cover himself up with. The last thing he needed was to be seen with a tail. On the very first time he had transformed no less. That would be dangerous and embarrassing. 

“Lewis, we know you’re there. We can see your bag on the rock.” Another voice called out again as he quickly reached into his backpack, pulling out a spare shirt he kept in it for emergencies. He threw it on and did his best to keep the tail hidden behind the rocks surrounding him. He recognized the voices now and the recognition served to somehow calm him and put him further on edge simultaneously. He pressed himself further against the rock, attempting to shield himself from the prying eyes of Cleo, Emma, and Rikki. Taking a deep breath, he gathered himself enough to reply. 

“Yeah, it’s me! I um, I was kind of hoping for some privacy though if you guys don’t mind.” 

“What happened to running tests?” Rikki asked, her voice laced with accusation. 

“I’m going over some data first. I think better here...and I think better when I’m alone. What are you girls doing here?” He spoke quickly, wanting nothing more than for his friends to leave. He didn’t want to hide the fact that he was a merman from them necessarily, but he wanted to tell them properly. Not to spring it on them by letting them catch him sprawled out like a beached whale. 

“Oh, you left your hat on the table at the Cafe.” Cleo explained, “We were going to bring it by your house, but Emma spotted your bag.” 

“Thanks, guys. Now, if you could be so kind as to set the hat down next to my bag and leave that would be great. I really need to concentrate on this.” Lewis cringed at how harsh his words sounded but he needed to get rid of them. He could apologize for acting like a jerk later. Apparently, Cleo wasn’t deterred by his bad attitude because she started to move closer to him. 

“Could we look at some of your data? We’re all a little curious about it.” 

“Maybe you are,” Rikki interjected. 

Lewis could feel Cleo’s presence growing closer and he held his breath, ready to face the confrontation that was sure to come when she saw the tail where his legs were supposed to be. He screwed his eyes shut and waited for the sounds of shock and possibly anger. But just before he felt Cleo’s shadow wash over him, he felt something else. A strange sensation spread through his body and when he opened his eyes his legs were back. He smiled, relief replacing the panic he had been feeling. They hadn’t seen and Lewis could breathe again. 

Lewis reached into his backpack, pulling out his notebook full of mermaid data and handed it over to Cleo so she could look at it. He grabbed his hat off the rock and put it on, then turned to watch Cleo read. 

“You’ve got so much information here, Lewis! And you think you’re getting close to a breakthrough?” She asked, excitement evident on her features. 

“Yeah, I think I might be.” He spoke softly. He hated to lie to them and get their hopes up even more. Maybe it wasn’t technically a lie though. Him being a merman would be a pretty huge breakthrough. Just not the kind the girls would be expecting. “I just need to do a few more tests.” 

“Well, I have faith in you, Lewis. If anybody can figure out the science behind mermaids, it’s you.” She said, handing him back the notebook. “We’ll leave you alone now so you can work.” 

He nodded at her and then waved as she rejoined Emma and Rikki. They all waved back at him as they started to walk away. As soon as they were out of earshot, he let out a loud sigh of relief. He had dodged a bullet with that, but he had to let it go for now. The big question had been answered; the moon pool had affected him in the same way it affected the girls. Now he had to learn everything he could about his newfound abilities. Find possible differences between him and the girls. His tail was a different color so who knew what else might differ between them. 

He was about to step into the water again, start on his testing right away, that is until his watch started to beep at him. He looked down at his wrist to see that it was almost time for dinner at his house. He debated just skipping out of it and telling his brother he’d gotten food with his friends but that would mean he would effectively be skipping dinner. The idea of starting his experiments on an empty stomach wasn’t one that he enjoyed. So, he sighed and stood up. He took a long look at the water before grabbing his backpack and starting the walk home. 

He was to avoid any encounters with water on his walk, especially now that he knew water would definitely lead to a tail. Luckily, he got home without incident and then walked into the kitchen to see his brothers already around the table eating. Leo looked up at him and gestured to the food on the counter. 

“I didn’t know if you would be home, so I didn’t make you a plate. Just help yourself.” 

Lewis nodded at him and started to fill up a plate. Once he was finished, he tried to nonchalantly move past the table and up to his bedroom, hoping that Leo wouldn’t acknowledge it and just let him go. Unfortunately, Lewis wasn’t that lucky. 

“Where do you think you’re going?” Leo asked, pointing at the empty seat at the table. “Come sit.” 

“Look, I’ve got a really big project I need to work on for school. Don’t you think I could just eat in my room tonight?” Lewis put on his best pleading voice in the hope that he could wear his older brother down. 

“Sorry, Lew, but if I let you do that then I’ll have to let the twins eat in their room too. And they’ll make a mess and ruin the carpet.” 

“HEY!” The two younger boys cried out in unison, annoyed by the accusation that they were messy. It didn’t matter how true it may have been. 

“Do I need to remind you two of the last time I let you eat in your room? Because I don’t think you want to hear that lecture again. Sorry, there’s no arguing this, we’re all eating at the table.” Leo then returned to his food, making it very clear that the conversation was over. 

Lewis let out a pained huff but sat down next to his brothers. He could hardly concentrate on the dinner conversation, instead focusing on trying to eat as quickly as physically possible. He wanted to return to the sanctuary of his bedroom, lock the door, and spend the rest of his evening exploring his newfound mer-reality. He finished his dinner in record time, much to the annoyance of Leo, and excused himself from the table. 

“Great dinner, thanks, Leo. Now I’ve got to get to work on that assignment.” 

“I’m shocked you could taste it with how fast you were eating. You’re not even going to talk to us at all? No ‘Hey, how were your days?’” Leo questioned, looking at Lewis with the signature 'disappointed brother’ face he often directed at the twins when they were trying to be sneaky. 

“Nope. Ask again in 24 hours and I might be able to help.” Lewis didn’t wait for a response, turning and walking up the stairs to his bedroom. 

He shut the door and double-checked the lock 4 times before feeling secure enough to get to work. He gathered up everything he may need to do tests. Within minutes his desk was piled up with spray bottles of various liquids, cups filled with water, towels to dry up any spills, timers, and of course his notebook and computer to record everything. He had to compare the results of all the tests he had performed on the girls to the ones he would perform on himself. He set a towel on the floor in the middle of the room and sat down on it. He took the first spray bottle that was filled with water and sprayed his legs. He counted the seconds, and once he reached 10 the transformation took place. 

First things first, he needed to more closely examine the tail. At first glance, it was already different than the striking bright orange tails the girls had. His was a much softer subdued green blue. Along with this, it appeared the shape was slightly different as well. The bottom was largely the same, but the edges were much smoother. He also had two smaller fins on each side of the tail and flipping over onto his stomach he could see that there was one on the back of his tail as well. All-in-all, his tail was a bit frillier than the girls’ tails. He supposed that made scientific sense, there were plenty of fish species where the male’s had flashier tails than the females. Still, he could already hear Rikki’s voice mocking him in his head. He put down all the notes about his tail into the notebook, along with a rough sketch of the shape before moving on. 

Along with the tail appearing, he noticed that the shirt he had been put on in his panic earlier had returned when he changed back into a merman. He decided to leave it on, preferring the coverage to being shirtless while he did his tests. Wasting no time, he moved on to the next portion of his tests, examining a scale sample. He did his best not to flinch as he pulled a scale off of his tail, reminding himself that it was all in the name of science. He failed, however, flinching and let out a sharp breath. He waited a moment for the dull stinging to stop and then got to work putting the sample onto a slide and placing it underneath his microscope. He was forced to resort to his outdated old one that didn’t work nearly as well as the new one that Zane had ruined, but it would work for the time being. 

He studied it carefully, taking in its shape and structure, taking notes all the while. When he felt that he had taken down everything he needed, he put the slide away for later examination. He waited a few moments to finish drying off and regain his legs before starting on the next part. He had a feeling that the water percentages that would lead to a transformation would be the same between him and the girls, but he was nothing if not thorough. He tested out a few samples that hadn’t caused a tail for Rikki and Emma, and sure enough, he remained tail-less. The same result came from the liquid with the least water content possible that still led to a tail, and within seconds he was back to having the large tail sprawled out across the floor of his room. He lay back on the carpet and let out a sigh. He had been expecting the tail, but he was kind of hoping it wouldn’t come. It was wildly uncomfortable to be a merman on the very dry land that was his bedroom floor. 

He took the time to use one of the towels on his desk to dry off, the entire process taking several frustrating minutes. Once he was finished, he moved to his desk. He took down the data he had so far and put it in with the rest, comparing it to the data he had gotten from the girls. Most of it was the same, appearance being the major difference that separates him from the three mermaids. His transformation typically took the same amount of time, as did the amount of time it took to dry off without the aid of Rikki’s powers. There was the next big thing he needed to work on. Did he have a power?

He assumed that he would, but there was no way of knowing for sure until he managed to use it for the first time. He read through all the accounts given to him by the girls of the first time they used their abilities. From setting the fire hydrant off on Zane, freezing falling water, and boiling a glass of coke there was one uniting factor. All of them had happened accidentally in moments of stress, needless to say, that didn’t give Lewis much hope for finding his potential ability. He was certainly stressed, but it would be difficult to find a situation where his particular stress translated into instinct taking over and manifesting in a power. 

Lewis had to make a decision, wait patiently for his power to come naturally, or try to bring it on himself. He decided that he would try to be patient. He had done a lot that night as far as studies meant, and it probably wasn’t a good idea to rush through all the merman stuff. Some of it would have to be a natural discovery and that was fine. 

I’ll just take down a few more notes, and do some homework for school, and then get a little sleep. Powers can wait for another day; I shouldn’t over-exert myself. Besides, there actually was a project due for school soon. 

So that’s what he did. He wrote down and saved whatever notes he felt were necessary for continuing his research later, and then he put away his materials for mer-research and got out his materials for schoolwork. He managed to finish up his math assignment and make a significant dent on the essay for his English class that was due by the end of the week. By 11:00 he was done with the necessary homework and could start getting ready for bed. He changed into pajama shorts and an old t-shirt and brushed his teeth. He decided it would be best to opt-out of any sort of shower or bath, it would probably be more trouble than it was worth considering the whole merman thing. He was in bed ready to get some sleep by 11:15, all thoughts of figuring out his powers behind him for the night. Which lasted for half an hour before he was lying in bed, wide awake, and contemplating what sort of ability he would have. 

If it was between the three powers the girls had he would prefer Cleo’s. The power to not only control but also generate water was something he saw endless possibilities in. Still, he wouldn’t mind having the same power as Emma or Rikki either. There was also the chance that he wouldn’t have any of those powers though, and that he might wind up in a situation where he had a completely different and unique ability. This was the thought that kept him up, all the various possibilities that hadn’t yet been realized when it came to mermaid abilities. He was up far later than he should have been considering he had school in the morning on his computer, researching different powers that mermaids had in old myths and legends. 

The research was slow going, with very few sources digging into powers outside of siren songs, but that didn’t stop him. He scoured every website he could find looking for possibilities. When his well of online research ran dry, he turned to a few books he had checked out on sailor legends and sea creatures from the school library. Before he knew it, he had come up with a list of different powers that he might possess. There were powers over storms and weather patterns, or even the ability to control the tide. It wasn’t until he looked over at his window to see light coming through the curtains that he realized he may have taken the research a little too far. He checked the clock, realizing that he had been reading for hours on end, and now he would have to be getting ready for school in just over an hour. 

Knowing that he wouldn’t be able to get any real sleep before his alarm went off, so he just decided to get up early. Once again he changed, brushed his teeth, and opted out of a shower for merman related reasons, and then he decided that he didn’t want to wait any longer. He filled a glass of water, careful not to get any on himself, and then set it up on his desk. He stood up, staring at the glass for a few moments while he thought of what to try first. After a moment of thought, he held his hand out in front of him, straightening it and holding it up in the direction of the glass in an imitation of Emma using her powers. 

Nothing. The water remained still and lukewarm. 

No worries, there was still more he could try. He shook off the first attempt and then put his hand out once more, curling his fingers like Cleo and focusing intently on the glass. He tried to get the water to move, to rise out of the glass, but once again the water remained still. He let out a frustrated sigh, and once again tried to shake off the failure. Now he started to slowly clench his hand into a fist, channeling the frustration he felt like he had seen Rikki do so many times before. 

The water didn’t budge and not one bubble appeared. 

Just to be safe Lewis put his hand on the glass to see if there had been any shift in temperature, but it was the same as when he had filled the glass. With a huff he sat down in his desk chair, staring at the glass. He had the easy tests out of the way, now the more difficult part would begin, trying to test to see if he had powers that he wasn’t sure were even real. There was no separating the genuine myths from the myths based off of true mermaid encounters, so he had a lot of work ahead of him. He continued to try out various gestures while staring at the glass, hoping for some sort of reaction from the water within. By the time his brother called him down for breakfast, he was beyond frazzled and annoyed. 

“You alright Lewis? You look like death.” Leo asked him as he put pancakes down on Lewis’s plate. All he did was mumble in response, lazily picking at his food. “Lewis? Seriously are you okay?” 

“I didn’t get much sleep last night.” Was all he gave in response. 

“That project stressing you out that much?” Leo asked, a hint of surprise in his face. It was rare that Lewis got worked up over schoolwork, assignments tended to come easily to him. 

It was at this moment that Lewis got an idea. He, of course, couldn’t test out any abilities at school, so what if he could find a way to stay home. It might be cheap to use his brother's concern for his own personal gain, but what harm could one day of skipping class do? 

“Actually yes. I um...I wanted to ask you; do you think I could take a bit of a mental health day?” 

“A mental health day?” Leo asked, raising an eyebrow. “You’ve never asked for one of those before.” 

“I know, but there’s been a lot going on these past couple days and it’s starting to get to me more than I expected,” Lewis spoke carefully, choosing every word to best suit his end goal. “Please Leo? It’s only one day, I’ve had perfect attendance all year so far, I really need this.” 

His brother thought for a moment and then nodded. It took every ounce of self-restraint for Lewis to not celebrate right there in front of Leo. 

“Okay, I’ll call and sign you out for the day. You look like you could lose a little rest.” 

“Hey! Why does he get to stay home and we don’t?” Liam asked. 

“Yeah, we’ve got problems too! Maybe all three of us should stay home.” Lucas chimed in after him. Leo only rolled his eyes and the twins and shook his head. 

“You guys can’t afford to miss any more school, you already lost three days because you got sick last week,” Leo argued, standing up from the table. “Besides, you two look healthy as can be today. Lewis looks like he hasn’t slept in days.” 

Leo had no idea how true that statement was. 

“Please Leo!” The twins pleaded some more, but Leo just handed them their backpacks. 

“You already blew your chances when you told me that you have a test today, begging won’t help you. Get in the car, boys.” 

The twins grumbled in annoyance but did as they were told and went out to the car. Leo looked back to Lewis, who was still sitting at the breakfast table. 

“Call me if you need anything okay? And get a little sleep, seriously. Love you, Lewis.” And with those final words, Leo left, leaving Lewis alone in the house. 

Lewis waited a few minutes to be sure that they were absolutely gone before getting up from the table with a wide smile. Now that he didn’t have to go to class, he would have plenty of time to figure out his power. He put his plate in the sink and ran back up to his bedroom, ready to get to work. The glass of water still sat on his desk, same as when he left if. He was a bit disappointed, thinking maybe there had been a delayed reaction to his earlier tries. Still, now he had all day to try new possibilities. 

He decided that his best option was to use the time he had to concoct some slightly more elaborate tests than just holding his hand up to a glass of water. If the girls’ powers had been triggered by a stressful moment then he should try to simulate something similar. He had to create a situation where instinct would take control and hopefully, make something magical happen. He could start small, and then try to escalate it until he managed to capture the mental state necessary to activate his powers. 

To start, he tipped the glass of water off his desk. 

In hindsight, it had been a horrible idea. Apparently the ‘Catch it before it hits the ground’ instinct didn’t kick in when you intentionally knocked something over. All that he had managed to do was hold his hands out as the glass fell and create a huge wet patch on his bedroom floor. He decided to ignore it for now and just let it dry. He would have to work out something a little better if he wanted to actually get results. 

It turned out however that constructing a false situation of stress was much harder than it looked. He sat at his desk brainstorming for the better part of an hour, and still, he wasn’t coming up with anything that would work to his advantage. Everything was either too elaborate to construct within a day, or too simple to trigger a genuine response. He sighed and leaned back in his chair. 

There has to be a better way to go about this. You can’t waste the whole day brainstorming Lewis; you need to come up with something now so you can start doing tests instead of just thinking about doing them. How to get a strong reaction when there are no real stakes involved…

He thought once again on how the girls had first come across their powers, and he came to a new conclusion. While stress and instinct did have a bearing on it, there was also an emotional factor. Rikki had been angry when she first used her power, and Cleo had been angry at Zane as well as threatened by him. If he couldn’t think of a way to generate an instinctual reaction, he could try to create an emotional one. With this in mind, he retrieved the cup that he had knocked over and got to work. 

Once he had the glass filled and set up on his desk once again, he held out his hand to it and closed his eyes. He had to focus on building strong emotions. Since anger had helped trigger Rikki and Cleo’s abilities, he started with that. He tried to focus on things that annoyed him: Zane Bennett, Rikki harassing him, failed tests and experiments, the twins touching his computer. He focused his mind on them, but it wasn't managing to cause any anger. He sighed, trying to come up with anything else that could elicit anger. It would have to be recent or ongoing, something potent. His mind drifted to the day he had gone to Mako, he contemplated everything that had put him in such an unhappy state that day. He felt a small spark of aggravation at the memory of his ruined microscope, and then the spark blossomed into the anger he had been trying to unlock at another memory from that day. The boy in Cleo’s math class who was, according to Rikki, so attractive. 

He wasn’t exactly proud of this anger. He knew deep down that he had no right to be, he and Cleo weren’t an actual couple. That thing thought, however, didn’t deter him, it only spurred on the feelings of frustration. He got mad at the fact that he didn’t have the guts to ask her out like he wanted to, and even more so at the idea of somebody beating him to it. They weren’t good thoughts, but they were serving their intended purpose. He felt his blood starting to boil, and this is when he opened his eyes to look at the glass on his desk. His hands were still outstretched towards it, but despite his emotional shift, there was still no change in the water. 

Great, and now you’re annoyed for no reason. Way to go Lewis. 

He did his best to ignore the judgmental voice in his head and he trained his eyes on the glass. He started to shift his hands, trying out various positions to see if that would help at all. After a few minutes of concentration, he sighed and put his hands down. His anger was starting to fade, instead being replaced with feelings of defeat. He knew logically that his abilities would come in due time if he would just be patient. Still, there was that nagging voice in his head berating him for not being able to do anything now. 

Maybe you just don’t have power. There are no rules saying that all mer-people have them. You might just be a boring average merman. 

He shook his head at the thought. Maybe he wouldn’t have a power, but he was still a merman. Nothing was boring or average about that fact. And there was still a chance that he would have a power and he just hadn’t found it yet. He just had to be patient. He looked up and stared at the ceiling, his mind a jumble of thoughts and questions. He could feel a headache coming on. He screwed his eyes shut and ran a hand through his hair, trying to repress the stress that was starting to rise. Here he was supposed to be having a mental health day to ease his stress, and all he managed to do was make it worse. 

Alright, that’s enough for today. You aren’t getting anywhere Lewis, and the last thing you need is for Leo to come home and find you in a worse state than he saw you this morning. Just give it up. 

So, with this in mind, he tried to relax a little. He went downstairs and put on a movie, laid back on the couch and tried to calm down a little. Still, his focus wasn’t on relaxation, his focus was back upstairs, doing more experiments. The slow dripping of the kitchen tap could be heard, and all it did was work to magnify his headache and keep his mind on the water that he hadn’t managed to change in any way. By the time the movie was half over Lewis couldn’t take it anymore and he went into the kitchen to try and stop the incessant dripping. He pushed the tap down, but it didn’t do anything to stop the water. Lewis could feel that last of his patience slipping down the drain along with each small drop of water. 

“I’ve had just about enough of fighting with water for one day, all I want is to get a handle on this merman stuff, but no. Instead, I get no results and an obnoxious leaky tap! “Lewis felt his aggravation growing with each word, and he tried to push the tap down again. “Come on!” 

He groaned in frustration and slammed his hand down on the counter. Unfortunately for him one of his younger brothers had spilled on the counter earlier and neglected to clean it up. He pulled his hand away to find it covered in water, and before he had the chance to find something to dry off, he was on the ground with a tail. A sound escaped his lips that was something like a cross between a defeated sob and a primal scream. He looked to the water on the counter and the water was still dripping from the tap with malice. 

“THAT IS IT!” He shouted, pointing at the water with his whole hand as he spoke. “You don’t control my life. You may control when I have a tail and when I don’t, but I’m not going to let you drive me crazy!” 

He hardly noticed the irony in his statement as he continued to rant and rave at the water. His eyes were trained on the tap, and he didn’t even register his fingers slowly starting to curl into his hand, his pointer finger staying outstretched as if the water was an unruly child he was berating for breaking a vase. 

“I’m supposed to be the one controlling you, that’s part of the whole merman deal, isn’t it? So why aren’t you doing anything!?” 

At this moment the drop of water falling from down into the sink dissipated, and Lewis’s eyes widened in shock. He looked down at his hands and then back at the tap. He pointed his hands to the puddle on the counter, keeping his eyes trained on it and repeating the motion of curling in his fingers, pointer still outstretched. He let out a disbelieving laugh as the water slowly shifted from a puddle into a soft mist that hovered in the air above the counter. He stared in awe for a moment before dropping his hands and searching for something to dry off with. 

It took him a while, but he eventually found a hand towel in one of the drawers next to the stove and managed to get rid of his tail. His movie and the leaky tap were both forgotten as he raced upstairs to his room. As soon as his eyes set onto the full glass of water a smile spread across his face. He held both hands up in the same gesture as before and watched the water slowly drain out of the glass and fade into the air as a cloud of fog. His smile grew as he started to move his hands, causing the fog to part and shift. 

“Hah! Who’s a boring merman now!” He laughed, returning the water from its misty form to the glass once again. 

He didn’t stop there though. Not even close, now that he found his power he couldn’t stop. He filled up his desk with different containers of water. He started slow, focusing on one container at a time. It wasn’t a perfect process, oftentimes affecting one or two glasses around the one he was trying to target specifically, but after a little practice, he had managed to turn one glass at a time into a misty cloud and then back into normal water. All the while he felt his excitement growing. After watching the girls use their powers countless times, he finally had the chance to join in on the fun. 

Once he felt a bit more confident in his control, he decided to go even bigger. He focused all his energy into all the water on his desk, and slowly started to change it to fog. Each glass drained as the large cloud grew...and grew...and maybe Lewis hadn’t thought this through enough. He realized a few seconds too late that all the water was spreading across his room until it filled everything aside from a small patch of space around his body. Within seconds everything in his room was damp, and in his moment of panic, he didn’t think to simply reverse it with his abilities. Instead, he managed to trap himself on the one dry patch of carpet. 

To make things even worse, his brother decided to come home for his lunch break at this moment. Lewis was struggling to fix the situation in his room when Leo knocked on his bedroom door. He shouldn’t have spent so much time practicing on only manipulating small bits at a time, because now he was only able to clear a tiny patch of floor at a time. There was absolutely no way he could properly explain this to his brother, and even if he could, he wouldn’t be able to move and open the door for him without sprouting a tail from the droplets of water coating every surface. 

“Hey Lewis, I just wanted to check on you really quick before I went back to work. Are you feeling any better?” Leo called out from the other side of the door. 

Lewis didn’t say anything. He thought maybe if he just stayed where he was and stayed quiet Leo would think that he was asleep and leave. Then he noticed that he had neglected to lock his bedroom door. He saw it start to turn as Leo tried to come in and check on him, and he leaped forward to quickly lock it. His hand connected with the water on the handle and his feet touched the soaking carpet. All Leo could hear on the other side of the door was the lock and a loud thud. He had no idea that his brother was now shut up inside with a tail. 

“Lewis? What the hell was that?” Leo called out again and this time Lewis knew he would have to respond. 

“I fell off my bed. Don’t worry about it.” 

“You mean fell off your bed after you got up to lock the door? That doesn’t sound right. Listen, if you aren’t decent, I can wait. but I want to talk to you. Put it away and come out.” 

“Leo!! Could you maybe not be disgusting?” Lewis tried to mask his panic as he spoke. He had no idea how to fix this situation. 

“What? You think I don’t know what teenage boys do when they’re alone? I was a teen boy once, Lewis. Seriously, I want to talk to you.” 

“Can’t we just...talk through the door?” Lewis asked, his voice pleading. 

“Why? What is going on Lewis?” 

“I just don’t want to come out, okay. We’re already having a conversation so let’s just keep it going like this.” Lewis heard how ridiculous he sounded but he held his ground. 

“Okay, now you’re starting to freak me out. Why don’t you want to open the door, Lewis?” The concern in Leo’s voice was obvious, and Lewis couldn’t help but feel guilty. This was exactly the opposite of what he wanted. 

“Look, Leo, I’m fine. I just...I don’t want anybody to see me right now.” He cringed at the sound of his voice. He definitely didn’t sound reassuring. He sighed, leaning back against the door. “What did you want to talk about?” 

“Well, honestly Lewis I’m kind of worried about you lately. You haven’t been home as much. You’re spending way more time with your friends than usual. Which is fine but you haven’t been telling me where you are and what you’re doing.” Lewis was caught a bit off guard by his brother's words. He thought he had been acting weird for a few days but apparently Leo had been concerned since the whole mermaid thing first started in his life. “I just want to make sure that everything is okay. Alright, Lew? If something is going on, I want to help.” 

“Leo,” Lewis started shakily, he hadn’t expected this much. He suddenly felt really lucky to have Leo as a brother. “I don’t want to lie. Things have been crazy lately. The girls have been going through a lot and I’ve been trying to help them with it. I can’t tell you what’s happening...it’s not my secret to tell really.” 

Maybe that last bit wasn’t completely true. it was his secret now. If the tail he was sporting proved anything it was that. Still, it was the best he could say in the moment. 

“Are they in trouble? I might be able to do something to help out.” Leo asked, the concern now amplified past Lewis to his friends. 

“No, it’s not that sort of problem. I promise they’re going to be fine and so am I. We’re getting it all figured out. Don’t worry about us alright?” Lewis did his best to sound reassuring as he spoke. He knew that even if he could tell Leo, there wasn’t much his brother would be able to do when it came to the whole mermaid thing. 

“Well it’s kind of my job to worry, Lewis. But I trust you. Just promise me you’ll come to me if things start to get out of hand?” 

“I promise, Leo.” 

“How about this…” Leo started; the nerves hadn’t completely left his voice, but he did sound a little more relaxed. “Let’s both take a day off tomorrow. Spend a little time together just the two of us. You’ve been helping take some weight off your friend’s shoulders so let me take a little off yours. We can have a fishing day and get out on the water and clear our heads.” 

Lewis smiled to himself. It had been a while since he and Leo had done a fishing day even though it was a favorite pastime for both of them. Things had just gotten so busy and chaotic and maybe it would be nice. 

“Sounds great, Leo.” 

“Alright, perfect.” He heard Leo stand on the other side of the door, “I’ve got to go back to work. Get a little rest, okay? Tomorrow we can talk more if you want.” 

Lewis heard his brother walk away and he let out a breath of relief. He looked around his bedroom. The mist had finally settled and now he would have to do a little work to get the water off every surface and back into the containers on his desk. His mind was a little clearer after talking to his brother and he was able to get working on it now that his initial panic had passed. It took him over an hour to get everything back to the way it had been before. By the time he finished his tail was gone and the lack of sleep he had gotten over the past two days finally hit him. He slumped down onto his bed with a sigh and let his eyes drift shut. 

Hopefully, tomorrow would be a little less stressful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know according to series lore if somebody is alone in the moon pool they get all three powers, but my friends and I didn't think that would suit Lewis. So we came up with a new power for him, hopefully you guys like our misty boy.
> 
> (Also,,, if you like this fic, go ahead and give us a Kudos or even share it with some friends! We appriciate any interaction! Thank you! -Almightycamelot, Editor)


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lewis and Leo go fishing and reminisce

When Lewis woke up again it was already the next day. Apparently staying up all night twice in a row had left him more exhausted than he thought. He woke up with a much clearer mind than he had the previous evening. A clear enough mind to realize that maybe under his current circumstances a fishing trip was a bad idea. He had only been awake for 10 minutes and was already in a panic knowing that his brother had a whole day planned out on the water. The water that could, within seconds, reveal a lot of things about Lewis that he wasn’t sure he was prepared to reveal to his brother. 

He thought about how he might be able to get out of the trip. But there was a part of him that didn’t want to get out of it. Despite the danger that a fishing trip presented, he really could use the relaxation. He hadn’t even realized how long it had been since he last went out fishing with his brother until Leo mentioned it. Leo was another reason he wasn’t convinced that ditching out would be the best option. At best Leo would be disappointed that Lewis wasn’t going and at worst his worry for Lewis would skyrocket and lead to a confrontation that likely wouldn’t be fun for either of them. Not going on the trip was seeming like a worse and worse decision with every passing minute. So, if he was going on the trip he would have to do everything he could to prevent any merman transformations. 

When Leo knocked on his door to see if he was ready, Lewis was dressed in a sweater and a pair of jeans, fishing hat perched on top of his head. With his fishing equipment he had packed a pair of gloves and a towel in case of emergency. He did his best to put on an innocent smile as his brother looked him up and down. 

“Are you sure you don’t want to put on something else? It’s like 26 degrees out.” Leo asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“It gets chilly out on the water, Leo. I don’t want a little cold to ruin our fishing day!” As he spoke he picked up his equipment and started to walk downstairs, leaving no more room for argument. 

“Alright then. Just don’t start complaining when you’re sweating your ass off on the boat in that sweater.” Leo followed him down, thankfully shrugging off the odd behavior. The last thing Lewis wanted was to spike Leo’s worry once again. 

They managed the short walk to the docks without any incident. Although, Lewis had already started to overheat in his outfit. The two started to head out onto the water. Lewis opted to let Leo steer so that he could stay as far away from the slight spay of water trailing behind the boat. His brother once again raised an eyebrow at this behavior. But he let it go quickly. When they got to their family fishing spot, Leo stopped the boat and began the process of setting up his bait and lure. Lewis followed suit, putting on his gloves before putting his special lure onto the fishing line. For the third time that day Leo looked at Lewis curiously. 

“Gloves? Since when are you afraid to touch bait?” There was suspicion in his voice, but luckily Lewis already had an excuse at the ready. 

“I got a cut on my hand yesterday. Didn’t want to risk getting salt water in it or getting the bandage wet.” He spoke casually enough, and he had even put a band-aid on his hand to make sure that Leo wouldn’t have anything to question. 

Once again, his odd behavior was shrugged off and he and Leo cast off onto opposite sides of the boat. For a few moments they sat in content silence. Until Leo finally broke it with a soft sigh. Lewis looked over to see his brother with a soft smile gracing his lips. He was honestly a bit surprised to see him so relaxed. It seemed like they both really did need this. 

“I forgot how relaxing this really was.” He said, “Why did we stop doing this again?” 

“The twins said that it was boring so we stopped going on weekend fishing trips together.” Lewis responded, taking his eyes off the water to look at his older brother. 

“Oh yeah...How old do they have to be for us to leave them alone so just us two can fish?” 

“Why wait?” Lewis felt a smile spread across his lips. That was something he hadn’t experienced in the past few days. “If they go missing it’s two less people eating all the good food.” Leo let out a laugh. 

“As their legal guardian I feel like that wouldn’t look great. It would be nice for the first few days though. Maybe I could get rid of all three of you and have the house to myself for once.” 

Lewis rolled his eyes but the smile stayed firmly planted on his face. A comfortable silence filled the boat once again. A few times Lewis had to avoid small splashes of water, but for the most part the fishing trip was going well. And it was working in helping to relieve some of the pressure that had been building the past couple days. He leaned back and let his eyes drift shut for a moment. Just taking in the soft sway of the boat on the water. He stayed like that for a moment before he felt a soft tug on his pole. He opened up his eyes, ready to reel in a catch, only to see Leo pulling on the line with a smirk on his face. He let go when he made eye contact with Lewis. 

“Don’t go falling asleep on me now. You got plenty of that yesterday.” Lewis rolled his eyes as his brother spoke but nevertheless, he straightened up and returned his focus to the water. 

“You know you’re going to scare the fish jerking the line around like that.” Lewis replied. 

“I’m sure the fish are just fine, Lew.” Leo responded. As he spoke, he leaned over again. This time pushing the hat off Lewis’s head. 

“Come on, Leo. I’m not five!” Lewis heard his brother laughing over his cry of outrage as he reached down to pick his hat up off the floor of the boat. 

As he put it back on and returned to focusing on the water, he heard his brother start to whistle softly. He glanced over at his brother, the simple tune filling his head along with memories of old fishing trips they had taken years ago. He was suddenly reminded of old family fishing trips, Lewis, Lenny, Leo and their dad all crammed onto a little boat goofing off. He couldn’t remember all of it. He was still really little. However, he remembered the way that his dad used to sing. He claimed that it would draw the fish to them. 

“Is that dad’s old fishing song?” Lewis asked. His voice came out softly. Hardly loud enough for Leo to hear. He wasn’t sure if the question would upset his brother. After all, he remembered their parents most of all of his brothers. He relaxed a bit more when he saw Leo smile softly. 

“Yeah, I figured we could use the luck. I also thought that I should spare you the awful lyrics dad made up.” Lewis could hear a small hint of sadness in Leo’s voice. Along with it his smile was growing. “I’m pretty sure his singing was the reason mom stopped joining us on the trips. Well...that and the fact that the twins came along.” 

“I don’t even remember mom coming with us. Just her making us lunches whenever we would go.” Lewis tried to imagine his mom on the boat with a fishing pole in hand, but he couldn’t muster up the image. He had a vague memory of her scolding him for bringing worms into the house, so he had a hard time picturing her ever going near bait. 

“Oh, trust me, she was happy for a reason to skip out. She was never much for fishing. She just did it because dad loved it. I actually think the last time she came with us with one of your first fishing trips. You just turned four, and she was pregnant with the twins. But she still squeezed that huge stomach onto the boat because you begged her too. You were practically attached to her hip.” 

“So, you’re saying I was a mama's boy?” Lewis asked. He tried his best to sound offended, but the smile plastered onto his face made it pretty unconvincing. 

“Are you kidding? When the twins came along you turned into a little monster because she spent so much time taking care of them. You were the biggest mama's boy I’ve ever seen. You look just like her you know?” 

Lewis thought of the pictures hanging up in their living room of all of them together, taken a few months before the accident. Leo was right. His mom had the same blonde hair and long nose he did. Her features were a little softer but there was definitely a resemblance. He couldn’t help but feel a bit of pride because of it. Looking at Leo, he thought about how his brother looked a lot like their dad. 

“I wish I remembered her a little more.” 

“Well, I’ve got plenty of stories whenever you want to hear them.” 

The two brothers smiled at each other before Lewis returned his attention to the water. After a few minutes he started to softly hum under his breath, the same tune his brother had been whistling. The longer he hummed the better he started to remember the song and his dad’s off-key screeching. He remembered that even as a little kid he thought that the sound would scare off any nearby fish. He couldn’t bring himself to care much as he got louder. Switching from humming to mumbling out what little he could remember of the words to the song. 

“Me and my boys on the water...something something sun or rain…” As he trailed off Leo picked up, his voice louder than Lewis’s but equally off-key. 

“Just us men against the waves, fishing all the days. Dad and sons out on the boat, till mama calls ‘em home again!” Leo ended the line with a horrible falsetto and Lewis had forgotten everything that had been worrying him that week. 

“God that song really was terrible. Wasn't it?” Lewis asked. They both laughed. 

As their laughter died down Lewis felt a tug on his line for the first time that day, Leo’s earlier antics not included. He started to reel in the catch. He pulled up a decently sized fish and showed it to Leo. 

“You know as terrible as that song was, we always did seem to catch more when dad sang it.” 

Lewis let out another laugh as he unhooked the fish, careful to avoid pricking himself with the hook. The gloves kept his hands dry as his brother pulled out a disposable camera and snapped a picture of him with it. Lewis waited a moment before tossing the fish back. 

Unfortunately, the water splashed back up at him. A few drops splashing onto his face. He frantically reached for the towel that he had brought, counting down from 10 in his head. He managed to dry himself off in time but not without earning yet another strange look from his brother. He suddenly remembered how hot it was outside. 

“You get a cut on your face too, Lew?” He asked, sarcasm lacing every word. “Why did you bring a towel anyways?” 

“Just in case. You can never be too careful you know…” Lewis could tell just from his brother's face that this excuse wasn’t going to be enough. 

Leo set aside his fishing pole and turned so that he was directly facing Lewis. He looked serious. The same way he looked at the twins whenever he got a call from their school principal. Lewis had never been much of a troublemaker. In fact, the last time he was at the end of this particular look from his brother had been when he accidentally caused a fire in his science lab in middle school. Even then, Leo had seemed more like he was playing the role of parent. Now it seemed more genuine. 

“Lewis, I’ve been fishing with you since you were old enough to walk. You’ve never been careful like that. Something has been going on lately and I want to know what it is.” 

“Leo, I swear everything is fine!” Lewis said. He had been trying to sound reassuring, but it came out a bit more panicked than he intended. 

“It’s not though. You’re never home anymore and half the time I don’t know why. I’m used to you being cooped up in your room doing experiments but lately it’s just gotten ridiculous. I mean for God's sake I found hair and toenail clippings in your room last month!” Leo’s voice rose with every word. Suddenly the relaxed atmosphere they had been enjoying was all sapped away and replaced with heavy tension. 

“Not to mention how dodgy you’ve been. You’re constantly making excuses that make no sense. And the past couple days it seems like you’ve been actively avoiding talking to me at all. I haven’t seen you act like this since mom and dad’s accident and it’s freaking me out.” 

At this point, Leo seemed to be fighting back tears and Lewis was suddenly reminded of how much his older brother had on his shoulders. Since their parents had passed away, Leo had taken care of Lewis and his other brothers. Sometimes Lewis forgot just how much pressure Leo was under to make sure they all grew up alright. This moment was a very firm reminder of that fact. 

Lewis set down his pole, realizing as he did how tightly he had been holding it, and shifted so he and Leo were face to face. He took a deep breath and awkwardly put a hand on his brother's shoulder. He wasn’t always the best with heavy emotions, but he wanted to do his best to make sure his brother was alright. Leo looked at Lewis. The stress and nerves clearly painted on his face. 

“Leo…” Lewis started slowly, careful to choose the right words. “I’m sorry for scaring you. It’s like I said yesterday though, everything is alright. At least...it will be eventually.” 

“What is that supposed to mean?” 

“Remember how I said that the girls are going through a lot right now?” Leo nodded at him. “Well that wasn’t the whole truth. Something happened to the girls and now it’s happening to me. It’s just a lot to figure out and deal with. It’s kind of really hard to explain.” 

Lewis was disappointed to see that his words hadn’t seemed to put his brother at ease at all. 

“What is going on though? Is somebody doing something to you guys? Are you in some kind of trouble?” There was a hint of panic in Leo’s voice and Lewis realized that he would have to give away a little more if he was going to quell his brother’s fears. 

“No, no! I promise that the girls and I are alright. What’s happening to us isn’t bad, it’s just weird and new. It’s the reason I’ve been doing so many tests and I’ve been spending so much time with them. We’re just trying to figure it out.” Lewis did his best to smile at his brother to show that he wasn’t in any sort of mortal peril. 

“Lewis, none of that makes any sense!” Apparently, it hadn’t worked. “Why can’t you tell me what’s happening? I can help you guys. Make things easier on you all. Whatever this is, it’s clearly affecting you, and I’m sure it’s affecting them too.” 

“I promised the girls I wouldn’t say anything about this. It isn’t my secret to tell Leo.” 

“Bullshit.” 

Lewis’s eyes widened at his brother's response. He knew Leo was upset about all of this but for some reason hearing his brother curse made it all the more serious. Leo almost never swore in front of Lewis or the twins. 

“Maybe if this was just happening to your friends, I might accept that. But you said it yourself that whatever this is, is happening to you too. So that makes it just as much your secret as theirs.” 

Lewis thought about this for a moment. He hadn’t really considered that angle. Being mermaids had always been Cleo, Emma and Rikki’s thing. Lewis was just the person helping them. It truly hadn’t been his secret to share. But now he was one of them. He was a merman, so the secret was now extended to him. Still, they hadn’t told their parents. If it hadn’t been for the incident at the pool party, he wouldn’t even know. Would it be fair to them to say something to Leo when they were always so adamant about not saying anything to anybody? 

Maybe they wouldn’t even have to know. You haven’t even told them that you’re a merman yet. What’s one more secret? One more betrayal on the pile? 

The hateful voice in the back of his mind put him further on edge than he already was. His hands start to shake slightly. He just hadn’t found the right moment to tell the girls yet. It wasn’t a betrayal. Telling his brother, on the other hand, might be one. 

“Lewis?” Leo asked, snapping him out of his thoughts. “Can you tell me? Normally I would just let you keep whatever is happening to yourself but right now I’m worried. I need to know, Lew.” 

Lewis took a deep breath and looked at the water surrounding the boat they were in. He shouldn’t tell, he couldn’t...but he wanted to. He wanted to help his brother and maybe get a little help for himself in return. 

I could show him...one splash of water and the whole secret's out. I could tell the girls that it was an accident. They would be mad that I went fishing with him in the first place, but they wouldn’t hate me. 

Lewis looked at Leo and then back at the water. He started to reach his hand out towards the soft gentle waves…

At that moment Leo and Lewis’s phones both started to ring.

Lewis jerked his hand away from the waves as Leo let out a frustrated sigh. Leo looked down at his phone to see that it was the twin’s school calling him. He had no choice but to answer in case there was an emergency. The aggravation was clear on Leo’s face and he mouthed what looked like ‘We aren’t finished yet’ to Lewis before answering the phone. 

As Leo spoke Lewis looked down at the message on his phone, it was from Cleo. 

SOS. Need to talk. It’s about Rikki. 

Lewis closed his phone and let his face fall into his hands. Too much was happening at once. He’s a merman now, he almost just revealed that fact to his brother, and now apparently there’s a problem with Rikki? He could already feel the headache starting to form. He looked across the boat to Leo to see that his brother appeared to be in a similar sort of pain. After a moment Leo put his phone away and looked at Lewis once again. 

“Your brothers are suspended. Apparently, they decided it would be fun to sneak a stray cat into the school.” His words were sharp and laced with annoyance. He let his demeanor softened just a bit though as he started to put all his fishing gear away. “Looks like we have to cut our little trip short here.” 

“Leo…” Lewis started but his voice trailed off when Leo put a hand up to silence him. 

“Do you promise that you and your friends aren’t dealing with anything serious? That none of you are being hurt, threatened, or worse?” Leo looked Lewis in the eye as he spoke. Searching for any sign in his younger brother's response that he may have been lying. 

“No, Leo. Like I said, nothing bad is happening to us. We’re all going to be fine.” Leo listened to this intently and then gave a small nod. He didn’t know what his brother was hiding but he trusted Lewis enough. If it wasn’t bad, then maybe it would all be okay. 

“I know that you aren’t comfortable with telling me, so I won’t force you too right now. Do you think you would be willing to at some point though? I don’t want you going through whatever this is by yourself. I know you have the girls, but I want you to know that I’m here for you too.” 

“I know you are, Leo. I promise everything will be fine. Right now, it’s just...too soon to tell you everything that’s happening.” 

Leo nodded at him, giving a slight smile before turning to start up the boat once again. As they start to head back to the docks, he gives a weak laugh.

“Just when I start to figure things out with you, your brothers have to go and start some more trouble.” 

“Well, what do you expect? It's the twins.” Lewis replies. He did his best to sound positive, despite the awkwardness that had fallen over their small boat. The day hadn’t wound up being quite as relaxing as he had hoped. He wouldn’t be able to relax afterwards either. Instead he would have to face the girls knowing that he had been lying to them for the past couple days. It seemed like every time he started to catch a break this week the world conspired to keep him stressed out. 

The rest of the boat ride to the docks went by in a slightly awkward silence. They both docked the boat and climbed out of it. Grabbing their respective equipment out of the boat. Leo gave Lewis a one-armed hug before turning to leave to handle the two youngest of the family and the most recent trouble they had caused. Lewis watched him walk away for a moment before turning away to head to his own destination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this update took longer than the rest, college is a bitch. I hope you enjoy a little bit about Lewis's parents though. (I guess in the show they mention his parents like once, so they're canonically alive, but I like Leo too much to change the story now)
> 
> I'm the one who bugged her to finally finish this chapter. You're welcome. Next chapter is gonna be a blast ;) -AlmightyCamelot, Editor


	5. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lewis face's the decision of whether or not to tell the girls about his being a merman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the long hiatus! Halloween was a blur of midterms, watching horror movies, and sending a good friend off for a year and a half mission trip. That's all finished now though, and hopefully I'll resume updating more frequently. Thanks for all the support, and our wonderful, beautiful editor (AlmightyCamelot) says hello!!

He walked into the Juice Net Cafe and scanned the room, spotting Cleo and Emma sitting in one of the corner booths away from everybody else. He felt the anxiety start to rise in his stomach. They waved him over to the booth and he sat down next to Cleo. The girls had an air of grave seriousness about them, and Lewis realized that he probably wouldn’t get a good chance to tell them about his recent mer-ness today. He was about to ask them what had happened with Rikki, when Cleo cut him off. 

“Lewis, are you alright? You never miss school, and you were gone for two days in a row this week!” She seemed genuinely concerned, and Lewis couldn’t help the bit of warmth that bloomed in his chest. 

“I was fine, I uh, caught whatever the twins had last week. I’m better now though.” He tried to keep a level voice despite the guilt he felt at lying to them again. 

You’ll tell them when the time is right Lewis. They’re already dealing with this Rikki situation, there’s no need to overwhelm them with something else to deal with. 

“So, what’s the big emergency? Did Rikki get arrested or something?” He asked. He hoped it wasn’t obvious that he was trying to change the subject. 

He was pretty sure they didn’t pick up on it when Emma’s face shifted to one of disgust. Cleo glanced uncomfortably at the table. Whatever Rikki had done had clearly not been well received by her best friends. Lewis was almost afraid of what it was. On the other hand, he knew that Emma could be a bit of a stickler for the rules, so maybe it wasn’t as terrible as she was making it out to be. 

“She’s been lying to us Lewis! We’ve hardly seen her lately, but today we did. She was at the theater with Zane, and they were obviously on a date.” Emma’s words were filled with anger, and Lewis couldn’t help but flinch slightly. 

“Well…” He took a second to gather his thoughts before continuing. “Are you sure they were on a date? I can’t really picture Rikki and Zane being a couple, Rikki hates Zane.” 

“She _used _to hate Zane.” Cleo said, glancing over her shoulder as she spoke. She must have been watching to make sure that Rikki didn’t show up in the middle of them gossiping about her. “It was definitely a date Lewis, they’re arms were around each other and Rikki was giggling. Rikki, giggling!” 

“Well that does sound pretty serious. Is it really that big of a deal though-” 

“Of course, it’s a big deal, Lewis! Do you realize how dangerous it is for Rikki to be getting cozy with the boy who’s constantly going on about catching a sea monster? This could wind up with all of us in a science lab!” 

Lewis flinched, partly from being shouted at and partly from the fact that Emma didn’t realize that now when she said ‘all of them’ she truly meant all of them. It wasn’t just the girls in danger anymore. Still, he did his best not to show this as he continued. 

“You guys, I know that Rikki can be a bit…” He trailed off for a moment, trying to find a word that fits that wasn’t completely insulting. 

“Unpredictable?” Cleo offered. 

“Yes. But that doesn’t mean she’s stupid. We have no idea how serious things are between her and Zane, and I think it would have to be really serious for her to give up your guy’s secret. She doesn’t show it, but she cares about you both too much to sell you out. You should look into it more before you start to jump to any conclusions.” 

Cleo seemed to relax a bit at his words, but Emma was still skeptical. 

“I just don’t trust any of this. And I especially don’t trust Zane. Even if Rikki didn’t tell him, there are still plenty of ways he could find out. And I have zero faith that he’ll be willing to keep our mermaid-ness a secret.” 

“Here’s an idea, why don’t you talk to Rikki about it hmm?” He raised his eyebrows at Emma. “That would be the easiest way to go about this.” 

“She’ll just get upset and run off; you know how she gets.” Cleo said. 

“Yes, but she’s going to get mad that you were talking behind her back regardless. May as well bite the bullet and get the problem fixed now.” Lewis waited for a response, but the table was silent. He knew that he had won this round. 

_There’s somebody else here who should probably bite the bullet and talk to his friends about something. You’re such a hypocrite Lewis. _

The judgmental voice rang through his head once again, making his stomach sink. He tried to tell himself that this was different, and that he had perfectly good reasons for not telling them right now. But he knew that wasn’t completely true. Sure, the girls were dealing with this Rikki situation, but as he had just said, it wasn’t really all that bad. So, Rikki was dating Zane, it may be disgusting but he could think of far worse. He knew that at least in part his not telling his friends was self-preservation. 

He had just witnessed how upset Emma got when Rikki kept her relationship a secret from them. He had a feeling that him keeping a tail a secret would lead to an even bigger outrage. Still, he didn’t know if he was ready to tell them. It felt ridiculous considering he had almost told his brother less than an hour ago. Maybe that situation was a little different though. Leo might have been shocked, but he wasn’t acclimated enough to mermaid life to be mad about it. With his brother Lewis wouldn’t have to worry about hearing how he was stupid to have gone to Mako on a full moon, let alone to the moon pool. And he definitely wouldn’t have to be afraid of losing his brother over it like he was afraid he might lose the girls. 

He doubted that they would be upset enough over him lying to them to stop being his friends, but there was still a part of him that nagged at the back of his mind that his only good friends might hate him for not saying anything sooner. He wasn’t sure he would be able to handle that if it happened. The girls had quickly become the best part of his life, and he wasn’t ready to risk all of that. Even if delaying it might lead to an even worse outcome. He had trapped himself into a situation where it looked like whatever he did, he may wind up that weird science boy who never talks to anybody instead of the weird science boy who has friends who care. 

Lewis tried to get rid of the mental image, shaking his head as if trying to shake the thought out of his head. Emma gave him a bit of an odd look and Cleo placed a soft hand onto his shoulder. He looked at her and met her eyes, only to find that they were full of worry. He realized that his sudden movement may have come off as a bit strange to anybody that wasn’t listening in on his thoughts at that moment. 

“Lewis...are you alright?” Cleo asked. There was a nervous quality to her voice, almost as if she believed he might bolt at the question. “We’ve been worried about you. It seems like you’ve been a little distracted. Not to mention missing two days of school.” 

_Great, first Leo and now Cleo. Why does being a mermaid come with everybody worrying about you all the time. Did the girls have to deal with this too?_

“I’m fine Cleo, just a little tired.” He mumbled, looking down at the table’s surface. “Guess I’m still getting over being sick. I should probably get back home soon and get a little more rest.” 

The excuse even sounded lame to him, but there wasn’t much else he could say. He wasn’t ready to tell them that he was a merman, and he didn’t have any other reason that he could give them. At least not one that they would be likely to believe. 

Cleo looked at Emma, as if to confirm whether or not they should believe him. Emma looked at her, and then at Lewis, and then back to Cleo. After a moment of thought she fixed her gaze on the boy across from her. 

“Alright Lewis, try to get better alright. And if you see Rikki would you tell us? You’re probably right, the three of us need to talk.” 

“Of course, anything you guys need.” Lewis felt a small weight lift from his shoulders knowing that Emma, at least to an extent, believed his story. 

Since mermaids had come into his life Lewis had gotten a lot of practice coming up with excuses and cover-ups. He’d had to use them to help the girls get out of difficult spots on more than one occasion. It was a small source of pride for him, although he would never admit it out loud, that he was enough at these sorts of lies to help keep the mermaid secret. Despite this though, he was having a hard time getting used to lying for himself as opposed to lying for the girls. 

When he lied to them it felt almost heroic, like he was a white knight coming to save the day. Now, looking at his friends in the eye and lying about being sick to literally cover his tail, he felt more like the evil villain. Still, he had already thought on the alternative and he wasn’t going to embrace that now. He would just have to live with the sweaty palms and the sinking feeling in his stomach for the time being. At least it may help with his sick ruse, he probably looked terrible because of it. 

“I’ll see you later alright?” He asked them, starting to stand and get up from the table. He needed to get away and clear his head for a little while, the day was supposed to be relaxing, but so far it had been half relaxing and half just as stressful as the rest of his week. 

“See you later Lewis.” Cleo replied happily. 

He turned around and started to walk out the door, before having his path blocked by somebody. He looked up from where his eyes had been trained on the ground to see blonde hair, dated jewelry and a face full of wrinkles. The eyes that met his held a perfect mix of wisdom and mischief, and Lewis couldn’t stop the sigh of annoyance that left him. It was no secret that Ms. Chatham and he didn’t exactly get along. She was far too deep into magic and fate for his liking as a man of science. 

“Hi Ms. Chatham, the girls are right over there, feel free to tell them whatever vague message you’re here to give.” He tried to move around her, but she stepped to the side to block him again. 

“Wait!” She said, putting a hand on his shoulder and making him flinch. “There’s been a change in you...Yes, I can see it.” 

Lewis felt the blood drain from his face at her words. He knew she had a weird way of always knowing what was going on when it came to the girls and their mermaidness, but he didn’t realize that would extend to him as well. He did his best to act like he didn’t know what she was talking about. 

“Yes well, the health teacher at school already told me all about that. If you’ll excuse me.” 

She still didn’t budge, instead her smile grew. She leaned forwards in that way she always did when she was going to say something cryptic. He now understood why Cleo was so weirded out the first time she met her. Ms. Chatham didn’t seem to have any sense of personal space. She studied his face for a moment before glancing over to the table where the girls were still sitting, whispering back and forth to each other. 

“Oh...you haven’t told them, have you? Well, that will come in due time I suppose.” 

Lewis had never wanted to push over an old woman in his life, but he was finding the idea rather appealing in this moment. He resisted the urge however, instead pulling Ms. Chatham outside the cafe with him. When they were outside Cleo and Emma’s sight, he took a deep breath and started to speak. 

“First off, it was an accident. And you can’t say anything to the girls, I’m waiting for the right moment.” 

“Well, you know what they say: sometimes you can’t wait for the right moment, you just have to jump into the moment you’re in now.” 

“I’ve never heard anybody say that.” Lewis said, trying his best to keep his annoyance under control. “And I don’t really know if I should listen to a word you say considering you never say anything straight forward. I’m not interested in talking in riddles.” 

Ms. Chatham seemed a bit taken aback, but smiled at him nonetheless. She shrugged and sat down at one of the outside chairs before gesturing for him to take a seat himself. He slumped down into the chair across from her and put his head into his hands. She didn’t say anything, and after a moment of silence Lewis gave in. 

“What if I tell them and they get mad and never speak to me again? What about that, oh wise one?” 

“They are rather temperamental girls…” Lewis couldn’t help but give a halfhearted laugh. For once the old woman said something that made perfect sense. “But you’re their friend, their protector. They won’t easily forget that.” 

“I just don’t know if I’m ready to risk it yet.” 

Ms. Chatham went silent again, deep in thought. She looked at the boy in front of her. He was clearly a bit tired and frazzled, she remembered how difficult it had been when she and her friends had first discovered their powers. She couldn’t have imagined going through the transformation on her own. She put a hand on Lewis’s shoulder, making him lift his head again and look at her. 

“It won’t be easy, but you need each other now more than ever. Friendship is the most important thing, no matter how they feel at first, that won’t change.” 

“How long do you think it’ll take for them to accept it?” He asked, voice coming out weak and unsure. 

“We can’t force the tides to come and go before they are ready. It takes patience. But...The tides tend to come and go more smoothly when we allow them to flow naturally.” 

Lewis thought for a moment about her words. They were cryptic as always, but he understood well enough. They would have to know eventually, and he couldn’t do anything to change their reaction. He was somewhat disgusted with himself for it, but he actually saw the old woman’s point. It didn’t completely ease his worries, but it helped a little. 

“Well...thank you I guess.” He said, “I still don’t know what I’m going to do, but I’ll consider your vague wisdom.” 

“You know…” She had a glint in her eye as she spoke, and an expression that Lewis couldn't quite place. “Whenever I used to be unsure about something, I found that going for a swim always helped to clear my head.” 

She looked out over the beach to the waves crashing on the shore. Lewis followed her gaze and felt an odd feeling of both terror and longing fill his body. He hadn’t actually been in the water yet, there just hadn’t been time. A part of him couldn't help but fear it. It was yet another thing that would further the fact that he would never quite be the same person he was. Still, he could hear the voices of Emma, Rikki and Cleo talking about how amazing the water was and he couldn’t help but want to share in that experience. After a few seconds of staring out at the ocean he managed to speak again.

“Yeah, maybe that’s not such a bad idea…” he said, before finally tearing his eyes away from the water to look at Ms. Chatham again. 

The chair across from him was now empty, and the strange woman was nowhere to be seen. He glanced around for a sign of where she went but couldn’t find anything. Cleo had been right; it really was like she could disappear into thin air. He looked into the window of the cafe, craning his neck to catch a glimpse of the girls still sitting at their booth, laughing and talking. He let a small smile grace his lips before turning to the water once again. He listened to the sound of the waves, taking it in before standing up and starting a short walk down to the beach. 

He found himself at his secret fishing spot, the same place he had been when he first got to experience the transformation into a merman. He could feel the familiar nerves rising within him as he watched the water creep closer to him and then recede back. He closed his eyes and started walking closer and closer, feeling the sand starting to squish underneath his shoes. He felt himself being torn between the desire to keep moving and the desire to turn around and run away. Still, he forced himself to keep going. He started to count down from 10, awaiting the inevitable transformation. 

10...9...8…

The water started to seep into his shoes and rise past his ankles and up to his calves. 

7...6…

He started to move faster, feeling the waves hitting him and splashing his face and shoulders. He was past his knees now in the water and his breathing started to pick up. 

5...4...

He struggled to keep his balance as the water reached up past his waist and the waves crashed around him. He tried to take yet another step forwards only to have a particularly large wave knock him down, submerging him completely. 

3...2...1…

He didn’t rise up to the surface, instead he allowed himself to stay beneath the water, feeling it bubble and swell around him as he changed. He was holding his breath, eyes screwed tightly shut until it was all over...and then he relaxed. 

He sunk down to the bottom of the sea floor, letting himself rest on the soft sand beneath him. He slowly opened his eyes, surprised by the lack of sting from the salt water that he was so accustomed to when he swam. He looked above him at the light seeping in through the surface of the water, hitting him and warming the surrounding ocean as he remained in the shallows. He admired the way the light reflected and danced as the water shifted, and for the first time since the day he fell into the moon pool, he felt all of the nerves wash out of his body. 

He stayed there for a long while, simply allowing himself to relax after everything he’d dealt with in the past couple days. He was still wearing the shirt he had put on in his panic the first time he had transformed, and now it billowed around his torso as the tide moved in and out. He wondered why he had ever thought that this could have been a bad thing, being able to revel in the peace of the ocean the way that he was now. Sure, there had been some drawbacks, but it seemed like it had all been well worth the trouble. He understood now why Rikki spent so much time raving about it. 

The way the water felt against his skin and scales, the fact that he didn’t have to worry about running out of breath too soon, the way the water seemed to block out the sounds of the world. It felt out of character for him, but he didn’t want to analyze anything right now. For the moment, the science didn’t matter; all that mattered was the water surrounding him. There would be time for experiments and note-taking later. 

He wasn’t sure how long he stayed there, just soaking up the calm of the sea. Once he finally decided to stray from where was lying on the sand, he remembered why he actually gotten into the water in the first place. To go for a swim and clear his head. He was already feeling like he had done a good job of clearing his head, now was time for swimming. 

He started out slow, getting used to swimming with a tail instead of legs. Every time he’d had his tail in the past several days, he’d been like a beached whale. It was much easier to move around with the tail when he was actually in the water. He went out into the deeper water, deeper than he had ever been willing to swim before he became a merman. He could feel that the tail was powerful, propelling him forwards faster than he had been anticipating, and he knew that he could get much faster. The girls had proven to essentially have superspeed when they were in the water, and he knew that he would likely not be an exception to that. After he had swam out deep enough that he was sure there would be no boats around to see him, he decided to try it out. 

The sensation was unlike anything he had felt before. He’d played around with his boat before, pushing the limits of how fast it was able to go, and this had to be at least 10x that speed. Bubbles flew past his face as he pushed through the water, heading off in a random direction at this new remarkable speed. He didn’t want to admit it, but Ms. Chatham was right when she said that a swim would help clear his head. He felt like with every flick of his tail the thoughts that had been putting a heavy weight on his shoulders started to fall away and leave him with only clear paths ahead. 

Within only a few minutes he found himself in an area he had become all too familiar with, Mako Island. It was as if some instinct deep inside him had compelled him to head in that direction, and he surfaced above the water to take his first breath in longer than he would have thought possible to see the island towering above him. A smile graced his features as he examined it, searching for where he knew the underwater entrance to the moon pool would be. He had seen Cleo, Emma and Rikki enter that way countless times, but now he would finally be able to try it out for himself. 

Once he figured out where it would be, he dove back under the water and started off in that direction. He found the cave with little trouble and slowed down as he went inside. He finally broke the surface of the moon pool, and in a way, it almost felt like home. He supposed this must be another mermaid instinct that he had yet to discover. He let himself swim to the edge and leaned against the wall of the pool, tilting his head back to look up through the opening at the top of the cave. He could see the bright blue of the sky and soft clouds floating by overhead. 

The memory of falling in was still fresh in his mind, the sight of the moon above him and the frothing, sparking water surrounding him. He had been in such a panic at that moment, but now he couldn’t have felt calmer. It had been an accident, but one that he was glad had happened. Sure, it would change more than he was ready to face, but after what he had gotten to experience, gliding through the water faster than a dolphin and changing water to fog, he knew it was worth it. He let out a soft laugh to himself as he held his hand out to the water in front of him, letting a soft mist grow and fill the cavern, cooling the air around him. 

_Definitely worth it. _

He ran a hand through his damp hair and thought back to what Ms. Chatham had told him. She was right, he would have to tell the girls eventually, and they were going to react however they were going to react. There was nothing he could do to avoid it, and he was surprisingly okay with that. He couldn’t help but be a little annoyed that all it took was a swim to help him realize that there was no way his friends would abandon him completely. If he had known that he would have gone into the water as soon as he got the tail. 

They would still probably be mad. If their behavior at the cafe earlier had shown anything it was that they didn’t appreciate Rikki keeping secrets from them. He had doubts that their feelings would be any different towards him. Still, they forgive each other all the time when they got into fights. Surely, they would forgive him just the same. 

_Guess you’ll just have to find out. _


	6. Chapter Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lewis finally forced to confront the girls about his newfound mermaid abilities, but it doesn't quite go the way he would have hoped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no excuse for not posting in this long, I feel awful for making ya'll wait, but I hope the angst and comfort in this chapter is enough to make up for it. Thank you for your patience folks, hopefully the next chapter is up pretty soon, I'm gonna do my best, but don't hold me to it please.
> 
> (Hi! This is the editor, AlmightyCamelot, speaking. I just wanted to give a big thanks to everyone reading this and sending us the nice words! I've also been slacking on my editing job but what can ya do. Being a college student who's trying to go through school as debt free as possible is hard. I'm doing my best to keep her motivated and writing so wish me luck! Thanks for reading!)

Lewis stayed there in the pool for close to an hour, just taking in the relaxing atmosphere. He had been in the cave countless times before, doing tests and talking to the girls. He’d even been in the water a few times, but it had never been quite as calming as it was now. He supposed it had to be some sort of connection to the pool that came with the transformation into a merman. He didn’t dwell much on the thought, instead filing it away into the back of his mind to consider more in-depth later. It wasn’t often that he put potential scientific discoveries off for another time, but he felt like he deserved it today. 

He finally decided to leave when he saw the sky starting to cloud slightly, indicating a possible rain. It was best for him to be inside during something like that, for obvious reasons. He let himself sink back underneath the water, turning himself around and slowly starting to swim out of the cave. He still had trouble believing just how easy it was to swim when he had a tail, it was like every move was so effortless. He was in even more awe of just how right being in the water felt. He had always liked to swim and be out in the ocean, but it was practically a whole new experience. 

He started to pick up speed as he headed back in the direction of the beach. As he swam, he started to mentally prepare himself for a conversation with the girls. Preparing to tell them about everything he had been hiding. It wasn’t going to be easy; he knew that much, but at least it would be over with. He was so lost in thought that he almost didn’t notice the figures swimming past him, moving just as fast as he was, and with golden-orange tails. His heart started to race as he passed the girls, and before he could even fully process that they had been there, they were gone. He considered following them, confronting them head on and showing them what had happened, but he couldn’t do it. He wanted to tell them properly, not to just spring it on them. 

He finished the rest of his swim to the beach and managed to climb onto the rocks that surrounded his fishing spot. As he allowed himself to slowly dry off, he looked out at the water, half expecting Cleo, Emma and Rikki to rise up from the waves at any moment. They didn’t though, and he wondered if they had even seen him out there. A part of him hoped that they hadn’t, it would make it easier for him to explain things if they weren’t already on edge. His hope for this faltered when he finished drying off and saw the message that Cleo sent him. 

S.O.S. MEET AT THE CAFE

Lewis felt his stomach drop, knowing exactly what this message meant for him. He had felt so prepared to tell the girls while he was in the moonpool, but now he felt like he was back at square one, terrified. He felt that was likely because instead of him telling them on his own terms it was going to be a confrontation. They had already seen him, and they were likely already mad at him without him even getting a single word out. Shakily he stood up from his spot on the rocks and started making his way towards the cafe. 

He got there before the girls and took a seat in their usual booth for the second time that day. He kept his eyes trained on the door, watching for when the three pissed off mermaids would come through the door. He tried his best to remain calm. They were his friends, of course they would be mad, but it couldn’t be that bad right? He’d seen them get into fights before, but they always tended to resolve pretty quickly, surely it would be the same for him. He hoped it would at least. 

His knee was bouncing under the table, and his palms were starting to sweat as each minute passed. He continued glancing back and forth at the clock and at his phone, waiting for them to show up. Eventually he glanced back up at the door to see the girls entering the room and his breath caught in his throat. He made eye contact with each of them as they approached the table and sat down with him, trying to search their eyes for the anger that he had been anticipating, but he didn’t find anything. They didn’t look angry, in fact that looked more concerned than anything else. 

He looked between each of them, waiting for them to say something to him. To ask him what the hell he was thinking going into the moon pool, or why he didn’t tell them, but he got nothing in response. Eventually he broke the silence surrounding them. 

“So... what’s going on?” He said. His voice came out soft and nervous, as if he was expecting to be attacked at any moment, which he was. 

The girls hesitated for a moment, looking at each other and then back to Lewis. Emma was the first one to speak. 

“Well…” Her words were slow and deliberate, like she wasn’t quite sure what to say. “We aren’t sure honestly.” 

That didn’t give Lewis much to go on really. Were they testing him, trying to see if he would tell them or if he would lie again? He didn’t think they would really do that, but how could he know for sure. He’d never been caught in a lie like this before in his life. 

“Okay, that’s not a lot of information for me to work with really.” He mumbled, struggling to find anything else to say. He was going to tell them, he had to, but he could tell that it was going to be difficult working up to that point. Especially if the girls continued to be as cryptic as they were. 

Thankfully Rikki decided that she didn’t want to dance around things anymore. For once Lewis found himself really appreciating her aggressive tendencies. 

“They clearly aren’t going to say it, so I will. We were swimming out to Mako earlier and we saw something swimming away from the island.” She looked from the girls and then back to Lewis. “It was another mermaid.” 

And there it was. 

Lewis felt three sets of eyes on him, watching his reaction intently. He felt his mouth go dry and he couldn’t bring himself to look at the girls across from him. He could feel the tension growing in the air like smoke, and he felt like it was going to choke him. He knew that it wouldn’t be easy telling the girls the truth, but he never imagined it would be so hard to just say it. He almost thought that the yelling at him would have been easier. 

“I-I’ve been meaning to tell you. I was just waiting for the right time.” He finally said. His voice was so quiet he thought they may not have heard him, but he felt shifting around him and finally looked up to see Cleo, Emma and Rikki all getting up from the table. 

“Guys, wait! Could you at least let me explain?” He scrambled to get out of his seat, but they didn’t wait for him. They were already starting to head out the doors of the Cafe. 

He raced after them, running in front of them to block their paths. The fury on each girl’s face was enough to make him want to hide for the rest of his life and never speak to anybody again. Rikki attempted to push past him, but he stopped her. She stood back next to Cleo and Emma. They didn’t speak, just looked at him with stony expressions. He turned to Cleo, hoping to gain any sort of reaction out of her. She had always been the one to be most understanding when the girls got into fights. He looked at her with pleading eyes. 

“Could you please just let me explain?” 

“What else is there to say Lewis?” Cleo said. Her voice sounded like it was on the verge of breaking, and Lewis could see that mixed in with the anger she was on the verge of tears. “We thought you were our friend, but friends don’t hide things like this.” 

With this the girls pushed past him, and he couldn’t find it in him to hold them back anymore. He let them walk away and did his best to bite back tears of his own as he did. Less than an hour ago he had felt like everything was under control, and now it was all slipping out of his hands faster than he could process. He found living out his worst fear, being all alone. Cleo had said it herself, she _thought_ he was their friend. 

Lewis stood frozen in place watching the three girls walk further and further away until they were out of sight. He desperately wished that one of them would turn around and look back at him. One slight glance over the shoulder would be enough to give him hope that they might forgive him and give him another chance. He didn’t get anything. He wanted to run, but he felt like his feet were glued to the spot. 

Even if he could force himself to move, he realized that he didn’t have anywhere to go. The girls would almost certainly be going to the moon pool, and home wasn’t an option. He had finally managed to put his brothers worry at bay, as much as he possibly could at least. He didn’t want to make him worry all over again. He didn’t really have any other friends that he could go and confide in, the girls were it. Nobody to talk to and nowhere to go. He felt a tear slip from the corner of his eye, quickly wiping it away before anybody had the chance to see it. 

He looked around at the people outside of the cafe, happily talking amongst themselves and laughing. He finally found the ability to walk so that he could get away from it. He didn’t have a destination in mind as he walked, just trying to find somewhere where he wouldn’t have to deal with other people. Eventually he found himself at the docks. It was quiet, the fisherman who worked there having finished their catch for the day. He found his small boat floating amongst the others and sat down in it.

For a second, he just sat. Unsure of what to do. His mind was racing, but he was having a hard time processing any of his own thoughts. He did his best to focus on the soft swaying of the boat, hoping that it would help him take a step back and calm down. Somewhere in the back of his mind he could hear Ms. Chatham’s voice, telling him that the girls would forgive him. He had a hard time believing it though. He had never seen them so angry at him. He couldn’t help but think that Ms. Chatham was wrong, and that they weren’t ever going to forgive him. 

He let out a deep sigh and leaned back in the small boat until he was practically laying down in it. He let his head fall onto the small bench near the back of the boat and crossed his arms over his face. The boat was uncomfortably cramped, and he could feel the edge of the bench digging into the back of his neck, but he didn’t bother to adjust himself. He simply remained where he was and tried to block out everything. He took deep breaths, focused on the soft rocking of the boat, and did his best to keep any thoughts at bay. It was almost like a bizarre form of meditation. 

His swarming thoughts subsided a little, part of his mind being taken over by his body screaming about the hot sun and the terrible position he way lying in. It wasn’t much, but Lewis would take what he could get. It wasn’t like his situation could get much worse, so a tiny improvement felt better than nothing. Another small improvement came when the stinging in the corner of his eye started to go away, his body seemingly giving up on producing tears only to have them be forced away. He wasn’t sure how long it was, maybe minutes or maybe hours, before the next improvement came. The harsh sunlight being blocked out as a shadow was cast over Lewis’s face. Unfortunately, the small shred of joy he felt at this faded almost instantly. 

“Napping in your boat Lewis? Looks like you’ve reached a new level of sad.” 

Lewis let out a frustrated sigh, recognizing the voice of Zane Bennett almost instantly. Nobody else ever managed to sound so condescending. 

“Look Zane, I’m really not in the mood to deal with you right now, so could you please leave me alone.” Despite his annoyance Lewis’s voice held no venom, instead coming out tired and sad. 

“Okay…” Zane hadn’t missed how defeated Lewis seemed, but he decided to ignore it for the time being. He was on a mission, and it wasn’t really any of his business if the science boy was upset. “I’ll leave, but I need you to tell me where Rikki is first. We had plans, but she didn’t show up and she isn’t answering my calls. You always seem to be around them, so you must know where they are.” 

The hurt that Lewis had been trying to keep at bay came crashing back down, and the stinging in his eyes returned again. He took his arms away from his face and sat up, his body straining as he moved from the uncomfortable position. He looked at Zane, glaring with as much anger as he could muster, hoping the dark-haired boy would take the hint and leave.

  
  


“I actually have no idea where she is right now, and I don’t know where Emma and Cleo are either. Now could you get lost?” The harshness that had been missing before was now dripping from every word that left his mouth. 

There was a part of him that blamed Zane for everything that happened. If his secret relationship hadn’t been going on, he would have told the girls what happened at the moon pool right away, and they wouldn’t hate him right now. He knew that it was unfair and that it wasn’t anybody's fault but his own, but that didn’t stop the anger and frustration. 

“Cool it Lewis, I was just asking. Forgive me for assuming you’d know where your friends are.” 

“They aren’t my friends anymore, they stopped talking to me. So, you’ll have to harass somebody else to find any of them from now on.” 

Zane had started to walk away, but he stopped when he registered the words that had just been said. He tended to not care much about the relationships of other people, but the girls not talking to Lewis was something big. He almost didn’t believe it, until he turned to look at the other boy and saw tears welling up in his eyes. That was something else unexpected, Lewis wasn’t the type to get worked up easily, so either he was an amazing actor, or he really did have a falling out with the girls. 

For a moment there was an uncomfortable silence between the two. Lewis sat in his boat, trying his best to push away the tears again and Zane debated whether he should leave or say something to try and comfort the crying blonde. In the end he spoke up, trying not to show just how out of his element he was. 

“Please, you four are practically inseparable. If they aren’t talking to you now, they will again later. The world might end if you guys aren’t walking around annoying everybody with your weird friendship.” He knew that he wasn’t exactly being sweet, but Zane wasn’t the best when it came to being soft with people. He found it much easier to be kind through a veil of condescension. 

“Wow,” Lewis scoffed, “That was almost nice of you. But I’m not so sure, they seemed pretty dead set on never speaking to me again.” 

Zane was silent for a moment, thinking of how he could respond. He ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. He could barely believe what he was going to offer, but the words left his lips regardless. 

“I can talk to Rikki about it for you okay. Just quit being all mopey, it’s weird.” He once again spoke with the same condescending tone, but Lewis managed to crack a small smile despite that. 

“You’d actually do that? What happened to hating me, you get bored of that?” 

“I promised Rikki I would try to be nicer to her friends. That includes you, even if you guys are in a fight. And like I said, you’re weird sad.” Zane didn’t leave any room for Lewis to make a comment in response. He turned and started to walk away. 

Lewis sat in disbelief for a moment, waiting for Zane to come back and laugh in his face, but he never did. It was hard for him to wrap his head around, but he actually felt a little better after that conversation. He supposed that if Zane Bennett, the most notorious asshole on the gold coast could be optimistic about the fate of his friendship with the girls, anybody could. 

With that tiny bit of hope in his mind, he finally climbed out of the boat back onto the docks. He was stiff, and still miserable for the most part, but he could try to hold off on being completely miserable until he saw how things played out with Zane. Even if it was hard for him to imagine Zane making things any better, he reminded himself that he used to think the idea of Zane and Rikki dating was impossible, and that still managed to pan out somehow. If that could happen, maybe the spoiled rich boy could play peacemaker too. 

He stretched, feeling his joints pop and crack to try to alleviate the stiffness. He decided it was about time to head home for a while. Leo was busy dealing with the twins’ troublemaking and had seemed pretty placated by their conversation on the boat, so Lewis was pretty confident that he wouldn’t have to worry about Leo worrying about him too much. Plus, it would be nice to sit down for a while and relax somewhere other than his boat. 

The walk back to his house was devoid of anything he had to worry about, thankfully, as the girls didn’t live near him and the sprinklers wouldn’t be going off at this hour. He entered the threshold and couldn’t help but smile at the sight he was greeted with. The twins sat down on the couch, looking as miserable as he felt. He supposed that they had gotten a pretty stern punishment from Leo while he was off going for a swim and ruining his friendships. He did his best to try and be a good person in life, but he couldn’t help but feel his spirits lift knowing that he wasn’t the only one having a bad day. He sat down on the coffee table, looking at the twins with a small amount of smugness. 

“So, smuggling a cat into the school, Leo must have really been mad. What did you guys get, a week of no TV? No going out with friends? I’m dying to know.” He had a smile stretched across his lips, it was only half genuine, but he would take what he could get. Besides, it was his job as older brother to torment them, especially when they brought it on themselves. 

One of the twins, Liam, grumbled out a response that Lewis couldn’t understand, while his counterpart, Lucas, kept his lips sealed. Lewis was a bit taken aback, usually his siblings were full of snark and wouldn’t hesitate to retaliate to his teasing, that’s why he did it, because he knew they would fight back which made it fun. It was rare for them to clam up the way they were, especially around him. 

“Hey, come on guys,” Lewis said. His voice was softer now, and he gave Lucas a soft nudge on the shoulder. “I was only messing with you! It can’t really have been that bad, could it have? Leo isn’t that tough a guy.” 

Lucas still didn’t say anything, so Lewis tried Liam again. 

“Come on buddy, talk to me.” 

“He made us get rid of it.” Liam said, his voice still very soft. 

“He what?” 

“He made us get rid of it!” This time the smaller boy shouted his response, and Lewis could see tears welling up in his eyes. “He made us take the cat to the shelter, it’s not fair!” 

“We would have taken care of it...it was our friend.” Lucas piped up from the other side of the couch, his voice now wavering similarly to his twins. 

Lewis felt a pang in his heart for his younger brothers. He had been happy to see them upset at first, to know that he wasn’t the only one having a bad day. But this wasn’t them just being irritated over getting in trouble, they were really devastated, and Lewis didn’t like knowing that more than one person in his family was feeling that way. 

For all the trouble they caused on a regular basis, the twins really were sensitive. They hated disappointing their oldest brother, and their favorite teachers. They just had a hard time stopping themselves when they got a big idea, and it seemed especially difficult for them when the idea was something that could lead to a lot of problems, like sneaking a cat into school. Still, for as upset as they could get over things sometimes, they almost never cried. If there were tears involved, it was serious. 

“Oh…” Lewis hesitated for a second, unsure of what to say to make them feel better. “I kind of know how you guys feel you know.” 

“No, you don’t!” Liam said, “You still have your friends, we had to say goodbye to ours!” 

“Actually, I kind of had to say goodbye to mine today too.” Lewis said, sadness slipping into his voice. 

“What do you mean you had to say goodbye?” Lucas asked him. The twins were looking at him with confusion. They were having a hard time seeing what their cat had in common with Lewis’ friends. “You say goodbye to them every day, you’ll still see them again.” 

“This time was different, we got into a fight. They um...they don’t want to see me anymore.” He paused for a moment, letting the twins take in the information and gathering his own composure. This was about helping the twins, not his own problems. 

“But...what if they change their minds?” Liam asked this question. His voice was still full of skepticism, unable to believe that Lewis was feeling just as upset as they were. 

“They might, but they might not, and I can’t change it either way. At least you guys know that your cat would still be with you if he could choose to, I’m not sure if my friends will ever want to be around me again.” 

Lewis stopped speaking and the twins didn’t respond. They looked lost in thought, but they didn’t speak. For a second, they just sat there, before Lewis spoke again. 

“And you know, even if my friends don’t change their mind, you might be able to change Leo’s. He can’t stay mad at you guys for long, and he had a soft spot for cats. No promises, but if you promise not to let him lose anywhere besides the house ...You never know.” 

The twins gave him a small smile at this, and Lewis stood up, feeling like he had done his job as big brother...Almost. Before his work was truly done, he sat back down. This time in the middle of the couch, sprawling his legs on Lucas and his torso on Liam. The younger boys yelled at him and tried to squirm away, but Lewis just laughed. The sadness was gone from their voices, and NOW his job was complete. 

They finally managed to squirm away from him and ran upstairs to their room, passing Leo on his way down the stairs. He rolled his eyes slightly at them, but smiled a bit, and went into the kitchen. He looked at Lewis lying on the couch and sighed. 

“What did you tell them, because 10 minutes ago they were down here sulking and now they look like they’re ready to plot a whole new stunt.” 

“All I did was have a little heart to heart with them…and maybe I said they could change your mind about the cat.” Lewis said, his voice trailing off at the end, waiting to get yelled at. Instead he just got a blank stare. 

“The cat? I thought they were mad that I took their phones?” 

“Nope, they were devastated that you made them take their new friend to the shelter.” 

Leo left the kitchen with a glass of water and went into the living room with Lewis. He pushed Lewis’s feet off the couch and sat down where they had been. 

“Well damn. I guess I’m the worst brother in the world then. I made them take it back because last month they said they hated cats. I thought they were torturing the poor thing.” 

“Guess they changed their mind.” 

“Well I’m not going to be able to say no to them now when they ask me to get it back, so I hope you’re ready to have a cat in this house. And I’m putting you on litterbox duty whenever the twins forget to do it.” 

Lewis couldn’t help but let out a breathy chuckle. “I can do that. I can’t believe you couldn’t tell that’s what they were really upset about though.” 

“I’ve been a little distracted by different sibling drama lately, sue me.” Leo spoke defensively, but his voice softened as he continued. “Speaking of...how are you doing?” 

“Good and bad. I feel better about the whole thing that was going on but now the girls and I aren’t speaking. I guess I traded one problem for another.” 

“Well, I think I’d rather you be in a fight than you be panicking all the time. At least a fight with your friends will work itself out pretty easily.” 

“I’m not so sure it will this time…” Lewis said. He looked down at his hands, awkwardly fidgeting with them, but he looked back up to his brother when he heard him scoff. 

“Lewis, those girls won’t last more than a week without you, you do way too much for them. They can’t stay mad forever, because if they did, they’d be losing one of the best things that ever happened to them.” Now it was Lewis’s turn to scoff at his brother's words. “I’m serious Lewis! I don’t know what you guys are getting up to all the time, but I know they wouldn’t be doing it without you. They’ll come around.” 

Leo threw an arm around his brother's shoulder and pulled him into a quick hug. Lewis returned the gesture and managed his first smile of pure unwavering happiness since that morning. 

“And you know, if they don’t come around, I’ll just be your new best friend.” Leo said with a smirk. 

“Yeah, no thanks.” Lewis said, putting on a face of disgust. “I’d rather not have friends than have my older brother as my best friend.” 

Leo shrugged and stood up from the couch, walking over to the phone on the wall. “Your loss then, I’m a really cool best friend. How does pizza sound for dinner? I think we could all use something nice tonight.” 

Lewis nodded and smiled again. “Sounds perfect.” 

He still didn’t feel good about what had happened between him and the girls, and he had no doubt in his mind that the crippling sadness wasn’t gone for good, but it could stay on the backburner for now. And in the worst-case scenario, if Zane failed and if his friends decided to never speak to him again, at least he would still have people there to talk to and laugh with.


	7. Chapter Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lewis tries to navigate life at school and as a merman now that he no longer has his friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, look at that! This fic isn't dead after all! Seriously I am so so so so so sorry that it's taken me so long to update. I could give ya'll some bullshit about coronavirus or working so much over the summer, but in all honestly, I was just majorly slacking. Feel free to roast me in the comments if you would like, I definitely deserve it. From now on I'm going to try my best to update much more frequently. Hopefully, this chapter is worth the wait you had to go through to get it. Enjoy!
> 
> P.S. This story officially has more words than "Charlie and The Chocolate Factory" WHAT THE FUCK
> 
> (Hi! Its AlmightyCamelot, the editor! I just want to throw a huge thanks to yall for sticking with us for a whole year! The two of us are literally so shook at how far we've gotten in a year!!! Thank you all so much for all the comments and love. I swear it's not going to be another six months between updates, I will run Jess over with my scooter before that happens again. Another thing I want to plug is our playlist we made based on this fic! It's "The Lewis Playlist" on Spotify. The link will be at the bottom of this note hahaha. Once again, thank you everyone! Have a great time with this chapter!)
> 
> https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0uCrPMKCYqWZXnmEQsy7bs?si=mTukBw51TUq-0M_y1gYyuA

Lewis and his brothers spent the night eating far more pizza than they probably should have and then lounging together in the living room. The twins managed to convince Leo about the cat in record time (mostly due to him already having made up his mind about it) and debated cat names until Leo made them go to bed. He and Lewis stayed up together a bit longer. They talked about whatever random things came to their minds. It was a nice reminder for Lewis. No matter what ended up happening with the girls, he would still have his brothers around to be there for him. It might not be the same but at least he wouldn’t be alone. 

That night he went to sleep a lot easier than he would have expected to after the day's events. When he woke up in the morning for school, he had a renewed sense of energy. He felt strangely confident. The first thing he did when he woke up that morning was make the decision that he wasn’t going to spend his time being miserable and panicking anymore. He knew that he had to give the girls space to come to terms with what was going on. It wouldn’t do him any good at all to spend that time moping. Instead, he was going to focus on making up the work he had missed at school...and working on figuring out his powers. He would talk to the girls when they were ready, then try his best to fix their broken friendship. 

He got dressed for the day and went downstairs, sitting down at the table as Leo finished setting up for breakfast. The twins hadn’t made it down yet, but Lewis didn’t bother waiting for them before he started eating. Leo took a seat next to him with a grin. 

“Not skipping again today?” Leo asked, although he already knew the answer. 

“No,” Lewis answered with a shrug. “There’s no point in getting even more behind. Besides, the idea of being alone at the house all day isn’t exactly appealing.” 

Leo nodded at this. He opened his mouth to say something else but was cut off by the sound of the twins barreling down the stairs. They wasted no time taking their seats at the table and filling their plates, their arguing going on the entire time. 

“HIS NAME IS FANG!!” 

“HE’S TOO CUTE TO BE NAMED FANG! HIS NAME IS SCRUFF!” 

“THAT’S A DUMB NAME!” 

“IS NOT!” 

“IS TOO!!” 

“IS NOT!!” 

“IS-” 

The shouting was cut off by Leo reaching across the table and putting a hand over each of the twins’ mouths. Leo waited a moment before letting out a sigh of relief and pulling his hands back. 

“I thought you two decided last night that you were naming the cat Simba?” 

“THAT’S THE NAME WE FORGOT!!!” Liam practically jumped out of his chair at the realization. He leaned across the table and high-fived Lucas before returning to his breakfast. Leo couldn’t help but roll his eyes at how easy it was to diffuse the argument. He smiled, nonetheless. 

“Thank god. There was no way I could have handled that screaming much longer.” Leo said. He turned his attention back to Lewis. “You think you’re going to be okay today? Y’know, with what happened between you and the girls?” 

Lewis looked up from his food to see Leo and both twins looking at him expectantly. He paused for a moment to think of what he should say. 

“I mean...I think so. They’re probably still mad at me but Zane said he would talk to Rikki and try to smooth things over... So maybe that’ll help-” 

For the second time that morning Leo cut one of his younger siblings off. 

“Are you talking about Zane Bennett? I thought you guys all hated him?” 

“Apparently not.” Lewis said awkwardly. He had forgotten that his brother wasn’t in the know when it came to the drama that Rikki had with Emma and Cleo. “Somehow Zane ended up hitting it off with Rikki. I’m pretty sure they’re a couple now.” 

Leo gave a fake shudder. It was as if the idea of Zane and Rikki dating was terrifying. In some ways it kind of was. Lewis just shrugged. He had too much going on to really worry about the two of them. Besides, for whatever reason Zane had offered to try and help them. Maybe Rikki was managing to rehabilitate him and turn him into less of an insufferable asshole? Apparently, Leo thought the same thing. 

“I guess it can’t be so terrible if Zane is trying to smooth things over.” Leo paused before his voice took a skeptical turn. “I’d keep an eye out though. He could be trying to make things worse between you all so he seems better in comparison.” 

Lewis felt a sudden sinking feeling in his chest. He tried to push that away. The idea that Zane would try to make him look bad had never even occurred to him, but if his encounters with the other boy had shown him anything it’s that he was certainly capable of it. He had thought the conversation yesterday was a bit out of character for Zane. Maybe he was blinded by the hope that it might actually help fix things with the girls. Now that hope was once again clouded with doubt. He did his best to shake off the newly developing nerves and focus on his breakfast. 

“Sorry,” Leo said softly, clearly picking up on Lewis’ shift in emotion. “I didn’t mean to worry you. I just don’t want you getting hurt.” 

“I understand.” Lewis said. He sighed and stood up from the table, picking up his plate to put it away. “I should probably get to school.” 

Leo watched him gather his backpack and put his shoes on. He was concerned; however, he didn’t make any move to stop his younger brother. 

“Alright, well the twins and I are going to the shelter to pick up their cat. We won’t be home after school. I’m only a phone call away if you need anything though.” 

Lewis nodded and gave a strained smile before he headed out the door. 

About halfway through his walk to school he started to feel a bit better again. He thought about the situation with Zane and was able to come to a new conclusion. It didn’t matter if Zane tried to make him look bad. The girls might be mad at him however that didn’t automatically mean they trusted Zane. Anything he said would be taken with a grain of salt. As for Rikki, she might be in a relationship with the rich boy but that didn’t mean anything. Rikki was too smart to get pulled into any lies he might tell. It doesn’t matter how much she likes him. That knowledge gave Lewis a bit of comfort. Not to mention the fact that Zane still might genuinely want to help. He had seemed like he was trying to be nice that day on the docks… in his own condescending way. Also, if he honestly wanted to look good acting like his jerky self and making up lies wouldn’t be the best way to go about it. Zane had to be aware of that. 

By the time Lewis got to school he had managed to return to the relatively calm state he was in that morning. His worries weren’t gone completely, but they had faded a bit further into the background. He scanned the hallway where his locker was to see if the girls or Zane were anywhere to be seen, mentally preparing himself for a possible confrontation. They were off somewhere else though. He shook off the slight pang of disappointment he felt and started gathering his books. 

They’ll come to you when they’re ready Lewis.

With that thought he started making his way to his first class. 

He got to class a couple minutes early to ask his teacher about what he had missed over the past two days. According to his teacher, they had spent the days he missed working on their essays. She gave him a small extension on the essay so he would have a little extra time to finish it. Lewis went down to his seat in the back of the classroom. Other students started filtering into the room and in no time the seats were filled, and class was officially starting. The teacher talked for a few minutes about the next unit they would be starting on, then turned everybody loose for yet another period to focus on their essays. 

Lewis did his best to focus on writing, he really did, but he found his mind drifting to other things. Mostly what he was going to do with himself if he wasn’t helping the girls constantly. He realized that without them around his schedule would be much more open than usual. He supposed that left more time to focus on himself. He would get to go fishing more often, maybe get back into robotics club at school and of course, start adjusting to his new life as a merman. 

There it was. The second cloud looming over his head. Life as a merman. He was torn between his worry and his excitement. He knew life with a tail was far from easy, yet there was a thrill to being part of something so few people get to experience. Before this he would throw himself into his research just to find a way to be part of it all. Now he was part of it regardless. He couldn’t help the jolt he got whenever he thought about it. He could only hope that the positive feelings would grow rather than fade as time went on. He knew Cleo still had times when she wished she could go back to life as a normal girl and he never quite understood it. He dreaded the idea that maybe he would grow to understand it. Even with everything negative that had happened he was realizing that the regrets he had were all about how he handled things, never about the fact that he had become a merman. 

He let those thoughts bounce around in his mind until the bell rang for class to end. He had managed to fill up the paper he had placed on his desk at the start of the lesson. It wasn’t quite the essay outline he was supposed to be working on. Instead there was a drawing of a mermaid’s tail covering the page. He slid the drawing into his bag and made his way to his next class. 

The rest of the school day passed by in a similar way. His mind was never quite able to focus on the things he was supposed to be learning. His schoolwork was ignored as his thoughts drifted. It wasn’t until the last class of the day that he was finally able to draw his thoughts to the front of his classroom. Unfortunately for his teacher, he still wasn’t thinking about the actual subject matter (currently he was giving a presentation on famous naval battles) but rather the pictures up on the board. Staring at the images of ships and water being projected across the room from him Lewis found himself thinking of a cave and a pool of crystal blue water that glowed in the moonlight. His mind went to one thought and held onto it. 

He needed to go for a swim. 

All day his thoughts had been drifting. In fact, they had been drifting quite a bit ever since he fell into the moon pool. The moon pool. The very place that had caused his distressed and wandering mind was also the place where he had felt so centered and at peace only a day before. He remembered the sense of clarity that had come with being in the magical place. The cavern had caused him endless frustration whenever he tried to view it through a scientific lens... but when he was there as a merman? He was surprised to find that he understood the moon pool somehow. Not in any way he could put into words. He couldn't write a formula or equation for how the strange cave worked. There was just a connection there. He felt a certain sense of power and understanding that he hadn’t anywhere else before. Part of being a merman, he supposed. He couldn't be sure where the feelings came from, only that he wanted to experience them again. 

He made up his mind that after school was out, he would go to the moon pool. A small part of him was whispering that Cleo might be there, or Emma, or Rikki. Maybe even all three of them. He did his best to banish the thought to the back of his mind. He told himself it didn’t matter. They knew about him now. It’s not like he had to worry that they would see his tail. The moon pool had changed him, it didn’t matter that they had been mermaids first. He had as much a right to be there as they did. He was set in his decision. He didn’t want to let fear ruin anything else in his life. He needed this. He was going to do it. 

When the final bell rang, Lewis pushed his way through the crowded halls to his locker. His confident stride stuttered for a moment when he spotted Cleo a few lockers down. She looked so...normal. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting. An air of anger or even sadness? But there was nothing. It was as if their friendship hadn’t completely imploded just the day before. He tried to brush it off and act like he hadn’t seen her as he took the last few steps to his own locker, beginning to enter the combination. As he put his books away, he could feel eyes watching his every move. He tried to ignore it. However, Lewis’s curiosity eventually got the better of him and he took a tiny glance around him. For a split second his eyes locked with Cleo’s. His heart dropped into the pit of his stomach. He turned away quickly, slammed his locker shut and turned to walk away. 

So much for not letting fear run your life. 

He didn’t let himself look back. He began the trek away from school and towards the beach, careful to avoid any sprinklers on the way. He tried not to think about the look that had been in Cleo’s eyes when he had looked at her. It was so different from the way that she usually looked at him. What once was full of so much kindness and affection, all that was left was betrayal. He hated knowing that he had caused that in her...and in his other friends. He had never meant to hurt them that way. Lewis did his best to push these thoughts out of his mind and focus on his destination. It worked to an extent, but he couldn’t shake the sinking feeling in his stomach. He really needed to get to the moon pool. 

It didn’t take long for him to reach the docks. The small fishing boats and larger commercial vessels neatly lined up as always. He gave his own fishing boat a small smile as he walked past. She would stay docked for today. Lewis made a mental note to try and take her out on the water again soon. Fishing brought a special kind of comfort to him, even if it wasn’t the kind he needed today. He made his way past the boats and to the secluded section of beach where he could step into the water without risking being seen. 

He passed in front of the Juice Net and was brought to a halt when he heard the voices shouting in front of the building. His spine went stiff when he recognized them. Lewis found himself ducking behind one of the trees outside. It wasn’t exactly a perfect hiding place but the last thing he wanted was for Rikki to leave Zane alone and turn her anger onto him. He held his breath as he listened in on the conversation. 

“-understand the big deal! You guys fight all the time and work it out.” 

“Why are you defending him Zane? You don’t even like each other!” 

“I’m not! I just think you could at least try to talk things out.” 

“There’s nothing to talk about. If you knew what he did to us, you might understand that.” 

“What did he do??” 

“I can’t explain it. Unlike Lewis, I’m not the type of girl who would betray someone’s trust!” 

“That doesn’t make any sense, Rikki!” 

“Doesn’t matter. I don’t have anything to say to him and I won’t have anything to say to you either if you keep pushing me.” 

“I’m sorry. It just feels wrong to see you guys split up. You’ve always been a weird little gang.” 

“Well get used to it because this isn’t something that we can forgive.”

Lewis didn’t wait to hear anything else. He was running as fast as his feet could take him before he could even think about it. The only thing in his mind was that he needed to get away. Far away. When he reached the small stretch of beach, he didn’t hesitate for a second before running into the cool blue water. One deep breath and he let himself be consumed by the water. 

His eyes closed for a moment, feeling the ocean bubble around him and letting his legs be replaced by his tail. As soon as he felt grounded enough, he opened his eyes and made his way to Mako Island. The water rushed past him faster than he would have thought possible had he not seen the speed of mermaids in action so many times before. He only slowed when he could see the cave entrance ahead of him. Once he was inside the cavern, he finally broke the surface again. 

He let out a deep breath when he was above water. He had only been partially aware of how much his lungs had been starting to strain while he was swimming. His ability to hold it for long periods of time couldn’t match what his friends could. 

...his friends. He guessed that wasn't the right thing to call them anymore. Rikki said it herself. What he had done was unforgivable. He had tried not to get his hopes up about Zane being able to talk to Rikki but apparently, he hadn't done a good job. Lewis let out a ragged sigh as the argument the two had played through his head again. There was nothing to talk about. He betrayed their trust. People should get used to them not being friends anymore. It all rang in his ears and threatened to send tears to his eyes. He swallowed around the lump in his throat and took a deep, shaky breath. He tried to reason with himself. 

Rikki is always difficult to sway but that doesn't mean it's hopeless. Maybe Emma will come around. 

Except Emma could be just as stubborn as Rikki. Before he could even consider Cleo the image of her eyes full of betrayal filled his mind and he found himself struggling to breathe. 

Maybe it is hopeless. 

He took another breath and slumped against the wall of the moon pool. He let his head lean back and stare up at the mouth of the volcano. The slightest bit of light came filtering in from the opening at the top. He felt the familiar sensation he had felt last time, the power and clarity, but now it was tainted with his own sense of betrayal. 

This cave with all of its magic he couldn't even begin to understand had caused all of this. It had caused the tails that lead to him forging such a strong friendship with the three girls it had made mermaids. Now that same friendship was being torn apart because the moon pool had gone and given him a tail to match. 

"If only this place could use it's stupid magic to fix this whole mess." He spoke aloud. The only things that heard him were the water and walls. 

He looked down at the blue-green tail under the water and felt emotion well up inside him. He had such strong feelings of pride seeing it, knowing that he was something so unique. Still, he couldn't help the pangs of regret and sorrow for what the tail had cost him. There was the guilt. It wasn't his tail’s fault that everything was ruined. It was his own fault for hiding from his friends. He was the only one to blame for how alone he felt. His eyes slipped closed again, letting the knowledge sink into him. He had ruined the best friendships he'd ever had because he had been too afraid to speak up sooner. He sunk down deeper into the water, giving into his emotions and wallowing in his own misery. It certainly wasn’t the trip to the moon pool that he had been hoping for. 

He stayed that way for a long time until eventually his thoughts started to calm. Something about letting himself feel everything helped him to make peace with his circumstances. It was the first time since this whole thing began that he just stopped to think. Not to make a plan or to figure out a solution, but to think. To let everything sink in. He didn’t necessarily feel better, but he had gotten what he needed from this trip. His mind was no longer drifting and unfocused like it had been before. He was about to get ready and leave the pool when he saw the water at the entrance start to shift. There was no time to prepare himself before another figure entered the cave and broke the surface. 

“Listen, I don’t know who you are or how you found this place, but my friends and I have done way too much to keep our secret. We will not let that get ruined by some random- Lewis?”

“Hi, Rikki.” 

Rikki stared at Lewis, first with confusion and then with disbelief. 

“You have a tail!?” She shouted, the confusion still evident in her voice. 

“Yes...I thought we already covered that. Remember? When you said that we weren't friends anymore?” Lewis didn’t try to hide the frustration and sadness in his voice. He just spent so long coming to terms with everything that had happened, and Rikki was acting like none of it had happened at all. 

“When did this happen!?” Rikki’s voice raised in intensity. She was completely ignoring everything Lewis had said.

“Last full moon. It was an accident, I swear. I fell in trying to get new water samples.” 

“When were you planning on telling everyone?” 

“What are you talking about?” Lewis asked, his own voice raised slightly. “You already knew! Remember? The fight, telling Zane I was ‘unforgivable’?” 

“Wait…You were the mermaid we saw?” 

“Yes? I don’t know why this is still a question. I thought it was well established.” 

“Lewis, you idiot!” 

“Hey!” Lewis cried out as Rikki splashed water into his face. “Why am I the idiot here? You’re the one who isn’t making any sense!” 

“Lewis, we didn’t know the mermaid out there was you! We’ve had no idea this whole time.” 

Lewis screwed up his face in confusion. He thought everything had been fairly clear. How could the girls have missed the fact that he was the person they had seen out in the water? If they didn’t know it was him then they would have had to think…

“You all actually thought I knew there was a new mermaid we had never met before and didn’t say anything? You actually think I would risk your secret like that!?” He was appalled. Now suddenly he understood exactly where all their anger was coming from. They believed the mermaid was somebody else! He felt guilty enough keeping himself a secret. He never would have been able to keep a completely new person from them for even a second. 

“That’s exactly what we thought, Lewis!” Rikki splashed water in his face again as she spoke. The anger that she had faded to the usual annoyance she displayed with Lewis. 

“Oh, come on, Rikki. I would never be that irresponsible! You guys mean way more to me than that.” 

“Well, you could have made that clear a little sooner! We’ve been searching for a new mermaid this whole time but all we had to worry about was you and your frou-frou tail!” 

“First of all, you three were the ones who didn’t let me explain. And it is NOT frou-frou!” 

“Oh, come on Lewis, you’ve got more frills on your tail than the three of us combined.” 

“I- okay maybe you’re right. It makes sense scientifically though; male fish usually have more vibrant tails than females. It’s so they can attract a mate.” 

“Like you could ever attract anything Lewis. You’re probably the least attractive fish in this whole ocean.” 

“Actually, that reward would have to go to you.” 

This time Lewis was the one to splash water at Rikki, breaking out into a broad grin. If the two of them were bickering back and forth, it meant things were okay. They were falling into their own dynamic. He could tell that she wasn’t angry with him anymore. Lewis spent his time alone in the cave getting accustomed to the large weight on his chest. Now part of that weight was lifted, and he was able to take a breath for the first time in days. Rikki smiled back at him and the two sat there for a moment just enjoying the easy flow of insulting each other. 

“Well, it looks like I don’t have to hate you after all. At least no more than usual.” Rikki said. “Why didn’t you tell us right away? None of this would have happened if we just knew from the start you know.” 

“That would actually be your fault.” 

“My fault? How is it my fault?” 

“Well I was going to tell you guys, until Emma and Cleo were suspicious about you cuddling up to Zane Bennett. I didn’t want to add any extra stress to the pile.” He explained. 

“Well, look how well that turned out.” Rikki said. The sarcasm lacing her voice wasn’t quite as biting as it normally would have been. It was pretty evident why when she spoke again. “So, you guys all know about Zane now I take it?” 

“Yep, unless that was another big misunderstanding.” 

“Not quite...Is that why he was trying to get me to talk to you earlier?” 

It took a moment for Lewis to respond. He was pretty sure he was in shock. He had never seen Rikki with that expression before. She looked almost sheepish. It seemed almost sacrilege to say about her, but at this moment it was true. Apparently, the mention of her and Zane had struck a nerve. He did his best to shake off the surprise when he saw Rikki raising her eyebrows at him. 

“Yeah, he uh, he said he wanted to make sure he was on all your friends' good sides. It was actually surprisingly nice of him, even if it didn’t work at all.” 

“Well, it kind of worked. I was so mad at Zane that I came here to blow off some steam. Now look at us.” Rikki gave him a smile and a shrug. “We talked things out like he said we should.” 

“You know, you’re actually right. Looks like I can’t hate Zane anymore.” Lewis gave an overly dramatic sigh and received an eye roll in return. It really was nice to have his friend back. It may have only been a day or so, and yet he felt like he had been without his friends for far longer. Maybe in a way they had. Having everything out in the open felt much better than keeping secrets and lying had. 

They talked a little while longer, mostly passing jabs back and forth. None of it was particularly malicious though. In actuality Rikki seemed thrilled to finally have a friend who wasn’t convinced that having a tail was going to completely ruin their life. They got to talk about all the good stuff without Cleo and Emma bringing up all the things that they hated about being mermaids. Lewis actually got to get excited about his new abilities now that the fear that had been hanging over his head was gone. He was extra excited when Rikki brought up whether or not he had a power. 

He remembered the day that he had practiced with the ability the first time and couldn’t help the pride that welled in him as it sunk in once again just how special it was to have that kind of ability. His hand extended to the water in front of him, pointer outstretched and the rest of his fingers slowly curling inward. He had only used the gesture that first time he practiced with his powers, yet he remembered it easily. It was like the motion was ingrained into him now, it was instinctual. And it worked. Slowly the water in the moon pool started to fade into a soft mist that surrounded the air around he and Rikki’s heads until it was almost difficult to see each other. He let the mist hang for a few moments before returning it to its original state back in the moon pool. There was a faint hint of a smile on Rikki’s lips as she watched it all happen, but she dropped it as soon as the show was over. 

“Well, it's not the worst power you could have. Not very useful but I guess we can’t all have useful powers.” She said, giving Lewis an uninterested shrug. 

“Just admit it, Rikki, you thought it was cool!” 

“I absolutely did not. Even if it was a little cool, it still isn’t useful.” 

“Oh please. Why do you get to decide what’s useful and what isn’t?” 

“Because, Lewis, I’ve been a mermaid longer. I know these things.” 

“Being a mermaid longer doesn’t mean you’re suddenly better at everything!” 

“Except it does. Cooler power, cooler tail, and I’m the fastest swimmer. That makes me the better mermaid.” 

“Fastest swimmer? You haven’t even seen me swim.” 

“I’m faster than Cleo, and I’m almost faster than Emma. There’s no way you could keep up with me.” 

“Is that a challenge?” 

“Maybe it is.” 

The two of them could barely fight back their smiles as they decided on a race back to shore. They were out of the moon pool and making their way to the finish line before they even finished the countdown from three. Lewis swam as fast as his tail could carry him. It was the freest he had ever felt. The ocean flew past him, coral reefs were only blurs of color as he tried to get ahead of the other mermaid. She hadn’t been lying when she said she was fast. She was wrong in assuming that Lewis might be slow though. He had just resolved the biggest issue he’d had to face in years. He had his friend back, that alone was enough to push him to race through the water at breakneck speed to keep up. As they neared the shore Lewis looked to the side to see Rikki only slightly in front of him. He put on a final burst of speed to try and get ahead of her.

In the end he reached the shore just 2 seconds after Rikki did. 

“Looks like it’s settled then! I’m the better mermaid!” Rikki said triumphantly as she pulled herself up onto the rocks lining the edge of the beach. Lewis pulled himself up next to her and shook out his hair, letting droplets of water fly at the girl beside him. 

“Okay, you won that round, but I demand a rematch.” 

Rikki didn’t reply. Instead she held her fist out over Lewis’ tail, drying off the scales until his legs returned and any trace of scales was gone. Then she dried herself off. She stood up, a satisfied smirk on her lips. 

“Better power, better mermaid Lewis. We don’t need a rematch to figure that one out.” 

Lewis didn’t even try to argue with her, he just smiled and shook his head. He knew that it wasn’t an argument he would win any time soon. He’d decide to let her have the victory for now. There would be time to prove that his power could be incredibly useful later. Until then, there were more important things that the two of them had to deal with. 

“I’m glad you don’t hate me anymore, you know.” He started “Any chance you could help me convince Cleo and Emma to not hate me anymore either.” 

Rikki deflated slightly, as if she had completely forgotten that her two friends were still furious. She regained her sense of confidence quickly and nodded. 

“Let’s try and talk to them tomorrow. They’ll come around once we explain. Those two can be some of the most hard-headed people in the world when they want to be, but they would never turn their back on a friend who didn’t do anything wrong.” The sincerity in her voice was palpable as she spoke. 

“Yeah, they’re pretty great, aren’t they?” Lewis gave a soft smile. He knew everything Rikki said was true. His friends would come around in the end. 

His friends. His heart filled with happiness knowing that was the right word for him to call them. He still had his friends.

This was the thought that kept him smiling as he waved a goodbye to Rikki and started to walk back home. He was really looking forward to tomorrow.


End file.
